Good Samaritian Hospital - Natural Births

hi L.,

I do not know about their 'natural' options, but if you are high risk,, or should anything serious happen that requires a top level NICU, it is the best place in town to be. My wifes' water broke at 29 weeks, and our son was born at 30. This was followed by 8 1/2 weeks in the NICU, and if anyone had told me that the amount of time we spent there was going to be 'wonderful' I would have thought they were crazy (I mean who would 'enjoy' 2+ months at a hospital with a sick child). But it was amazing. The week my wife was on bed rest, she just loved, the nurses were great, the room was nice, I felt welcomed and comfortable when I visited. Parking is easy.

All is well, my son is doing great, my wife is fine, and we are glad we had their resources there when we needed them. Good luck with your pregnancy and I hope for you that everything goes nice and smooth. You'll be fine.

Take care,

Keith

Good Sam is fantastic all around! I had 3 babies there and had wonderful experiences each time. The facility is great, the nurses are wonderful, the food is decent, the nursery was nice and a level 3 which I loved incase we needed it, and if we were having more kids I go there over and over again.

As to the comment about breastfeeding...They are wonderful with it. The laction consultants go above and beyond to try to help you. The head one was in my room for hours trying to help me with 2 of my kids. With my 3rd I decided I didn't want to breastfeed after a day b/c I was having so many problems. She wasn't pushy and didn't make me feel bad about my decision.

As for natural childbirth...also wonderful. I had 2 of my children with epidurals. My 3rd I had "naturally"...not by choice. I got to the hospital and missed my epidural...which apparently can happen! :) The nurses were wonderful at trying to keep me calm, being reasurring that, "I could do this, that I was doing great, that the baby was perfect, that all my crazy screaming was perfectly normal...not to care what anyone thought, etc."

Congrats and good luck! :)

I don't know where your doctor is associated with, but Hinsdale Hospital is wonderful for a fully natural birth. Myself and 2 other friends have done it there completely naturally...actually all with the same midwife. It was a great experience and the nurse that I had was totally cool and even in my toughest times NEVER tried to encourage drugs. I know that there are some impatient nurses there as I did have one for a short while, but for the most part they are fantastic! We had our own room post-partum and DD stayed in the room with us. They have fantastic lactation consultants and really encourage breastfeeding. Even the food was good. Now this was 4 years ago, but my friend delivered 9 mths ago and said it was good too. So, if you can deliver at Hinsdale, I believe that you will enjoy an upbuilding, natural birth. Congrats!

I'd agree w/ Keith that it's a great hospital. In terms of natural, the only negative I've heard is they aren't really breastfeeding friendly. My friend was unable to successfully breastfeed b/c the nurses kept giving her baby one ounce of formula every hour - they said that was their protocol, which I find a little odd. They do nice things like give you and your hubby a date night, but again, it can be at the expense of your nursing relationship/bonding.