OB GYN Or Midwife Recommendations Around Elgin Area

There is a big practice of midwives in this area, Midwest Midwifery (www.midwestmidwifery.com). I checked their website and they do have an office in Elgin. I have heard great things about them for birth although I have only been to them for well-woman care.

Homefirst (www.homefirst.com) is a holistically/naturally minded group of family practice MDs who do homebirth as well as hospital birth. I think they may have a midwife or two on staff, but I think most of the deliveries are done by docs. We see them for family practice and they are great.

Both of the above are covered in Blue Cross Blue Shield networks, but I am not sure about others.

Good luck with your pregnancy- I highly recommend a midwife over an MD. I am an L & D RN and midwives tend to be lower-intervention and more hands-on. Illinois has one of the highest rates of c-sections and also one of the highest rates of complications in the US, so every little chance of reducing problems is well worth it.

I second the recommendation to see Midwest Midwifery. I had a successful VBAC with Shannon Berry there 2 years ago. She used to be a homebirth midwife and practicing Chiro before joining the practice. They have several clinic locations and deliver and both St Alexius and Alexian Brothers hospitals. Their website is www.midwestmidwifery.com

I used a midwife for both of my births. Her name is Sarah Simmons - she is awesome. She also takes BCBS insurance. Her office is in Chicago (N side) so it did mean travelling for appts. She is very flexible with times and we went on Sat. mornings. She came out to our home in Bartlett for my 2nd daughter's birth. We lived in Chicago the first time around. Let me know if you are interested and I will send you her contact info. I have to look it up.

We have also used Homefirst for our family care. The doctors are very good - more holistic in their approach. I know someone who used them for her homebirth as well.

I highly recommend a midwife. I had great experiences with mine and anyone I know that has used one hasn't regretted it.

Good luck!

i go to Dr Carol Korzen at Fox Valley womens health care in Elgin at the sherman hospital business offices. she is great - she delivered my twins via c section - and did amazing work. she is young and easy to talk to. welcome to the area! beast of luck.

I just saw this a bit late and wanted to say that I would not recommend HomeFirst because of the lawsuits they have been involved in with malpractice. They were also really creepy when I interviewed them and I've heard their office is rather filthy.

Midwest Midwifery- I was with them for a long while, but then after I got pregnant they got really weird. They also have scattered offices that are not well-kept, and you often will overhear them talking about others' charts when they shouldn't be. I had a really horrible experience with one of them when she yelled at me on the phone because I had bleeding and she said, "What do you want me to do? Stop you from having a miscarriage? I am DONE with you!" when all I was asking was if I should go to the ER. It was like something from the twilight zone! VERY unprofessional.

I am currently seeing West Suburban Midwives- they practice in Oak Park (about an hour away) and do waterbirths. They are also very involved with the legalities of getting birth centers approved in Illinois and know their stuff! There are also only 3 of them, so it's easier for them to get to know you and for you to know them, as opposed to larger practices with 7-8 midwives, in my opinion.

Congrats on your pregnancy!!
I've been with 3 practices so far and am on a local online doula board, so if you have questions about a practitioner, I can get good feedback for you if you want.

Amanda R.
Aspiring IBCLC