University of Chicago Medicine (Chicago) [Midwife-Attended Birth]

“At the Family Birth Center, we offer a customized birth experience in the comfort and privacy of our nurturing environment. Our team of experts supports pregnant women and their partners and families with compassion and respect through pregnancy, childbirth, bonding, breastfeeding and healing.”

“Midwives: With the expertise of our certified nurse midwives (CNM), the University of Chicago Medicine Family Birth Center offers a broader range of birthing options in the safety of a hospital setting. Nurse midwives play a unique role in optimizing the childbirth experience for women whose pregnancies are low-risk.”

“Midwives specialize in supporting the body’s intuitive progression of labor with natural and low-intervention birthing practices. When necessary or preferred, nurse midwives believe in judicious use of intervention — meaning an appropriate level of intervention at an appropriate time. Whether your experience is higher or lower on the spectrum of intervention, nurse midwives offer expertise in evidence-based practices to optimize the outcome for you and your baby.”

The Family Birth Center: “The UChicago Medicine Family Birth Center offers a warm and welcoming space for pregnant and birthing parents.

From prenatal care through labor and delivery, our obstetricians and midwives support customized birth experiences with compassionate care.

“Specially designed with hospitality, comfort, flexibility and efficiency in mind, the Family Birth Center supports a nurturing and healing atmosphere for your birth experience your way. Conveniently located in the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, our birth center is equipped with contemporary amenities, including:

• Private delivery suites
• Two large natural birthing suites, both with built-in warm water immersion (hydrotherapy) tubs
• State-of-the-art operating rooms to support an optimized cesarean birth experience, when necessary”

“At our Family Birth Center, we work hard to:

• Help you fully understand your options, including potential alternatives
• Understand your medical and environmental preferences in pain management, labor support, birthing options and postpartum care
• Create a healthy and nurturing environment that optimally supports your customized childbirth experience”

Welcoming visitor policies: “At the Family Birth Center, we understand that your child’s birth is a peak moment of excitement for you and your closest supporters. We welcome spouses, partners, co-parents, intended parents, children and doulas, as well as other family members, friends and guests who you choose to include in your childbirth experience.”

Our visitor policies prioritize safety first, while allowing your loved ones to be at your side as much as possible. Each private suite is equipped with a convertible sleeping cot for your overnight visitors. With a maximum of three visitors at a time allowed in your suite, our Family Waiting Room is available to accommodate additional guests.”

Gentle C-Sections: A C-section does involve surgery, but we understand that your experience is far more than an operation. At the Family Birth Center, our experts perform “gentle” cesareans that support an inclusive delivery and bonding experience for you and your family.

In most cases, we allow one family member or guest to accompany you in the operating room. With a gentle C-section, sometimes called a “family-centered” or “natural” cesarean, you have choices that traditionally have only been offered with vaginal births.

During a gentle C-section experience, we encourage you to see, hold, feed and start bonding with your newborn right away.

Whenever possible:

• Immediate skin-to-skin bonding is supported and encouraged with cesarean and vaginal deliveries.
• Your blood pressure cuff and any other monitoring devices are placed on one arm, leaving your other arm free to hold your baby.
• You can breastfeed in the operating room after cesarean delivery.

Breastfeeding support: “The Family Birth Center is internationally recognized as a birth facility that offers optimal care for breastfeeding mothers and babies. Our designation as a Baby-Friendly Hospital acknowledges our commitment to providing care based on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)-endorsed Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.”

“At the Family Birth Center, our entire care team is fully equipped with training and resources to offer extensive support for breastfeeding moms and babies, including:

• Our free breastfeeding class for expectant parents
• Access to our expert team of lactation consultants during your hospital stay
• Baby Bistro, our free weekly lactation support group”

At the Family Birth Center, we offer a customized birth experience in the comfort and privacy of our nurturing environment. Our team of experts supports pregnant women and their partners and families with compassion and respect through pregnancy, childbirth, bonding, breastfeeding and healing.”

Family Connects: UChicago Medicine’s Family Connects program provides in-home nursing support to help new parents navigate the critical first months after their newborn’s birth. Through this program, Chicago families receive a visit from a registered nurse about three weeks after their newborn’s birth. This visit offers benefits for newborns and parents, as well as other family members and caregivers. Learn more“

The midwives care for women experiencing lower-risk pregnancies.  Guidelines are generally flexible and the midwives can accept women with certain risk factors into their care. However, you will be referred to the collaborating doctors if you have certain risk factors, including:

• insulin dependent diabetes
• chronic hypertension on medication
• BMI > 45

Your physician or midwife can help you understand your risk factors and whether or not a trial of labor after cesarean is a recommended option for you. It may depend on certain personal health factors, such as:

• The type of uterine incision used with your previous C-section(s)
• Whether or not you plan to have more children
• Whether you have a maternal-fetal condition that could complicate vaginal delivery

If you have a history of uterine rupture or have had more than 2 prior cesarean births, TOLAC/VBAC will not be recommended for you.

The free Family Birth Center tour includes the Family Birth Center and Mother and Baby Care (postpartum) suites.

Space is limited to a maximum of 16 attendees. Each attendee must register individually. Tours are limited to the expectant mother and one additional support person. The tour meets in the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital lobby at 5721 S. Maryland Avenue, Chicago, IL.

You can see upcoming tour dates here.

You can also see a virtual tour of the Family Birth Center using the link below.

Nurse educators lead prenatal classes for expectant parents and families. Several of classes are free.

Registration is required to attend a class. See the list of course options here.

Designated as “Baby-Friendly”, the Family Birth Center is internationally recognized as a birth facility that offers optimal care for breastfeeding mothers and babies. Baby-Friendly designation acknowledges commitment to providing care based on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)-endorsed Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.

The University of Chicago Medicine has received its 14^th consecutive A grade in hospital safety from The Leapfrog Group, making it the only academic medical center in Chicago to consistently earn the top score from the prestigious industry watchdog. The hospital is recognized as meeting or exceeding the standard of care for all five maternity-related measures assessed by Leapfrog.