Rush Vs. Northwestern (Prentice) - Where Should I Deliver?

Definitely Rush over Prentice. I had my first son at Prentice and it was a nightmare from start to finish. Second son at Rush and OH MY GOODNESS what a difference!

E.,

I delivered recently at the new Prentice. It is very nice and comfortable with great staff as well. I had an excellant experience. My husband thought the bed was much more comfortable for sleeping.

I don't think you can go wrong at either place. I delivered at the old Prentice in 2007 and will deliver at the new on in 2009. I have friends who delivered at the old Prentice and at Rush and have hands up liked Rush better. They thought the nurses and support staff at Prentice were inferior to those at Rush. That said, if you are over 35 or might have a complication, Prentice might be better because it has all the resources that you would need in a women's hospital. Rush also has a children's hospital and neonatal experts, but it's not as highly rated as those at Northwestern. My husband is a physician who trained at Rush and even though we now live in the Western suburbs, he wants me to go to Prentice just in case we have any complications.

I delivered at Rush too and agree the L&D nurses are wonderful but the after care was horrible! It was hard to get the staff to respect my family's wishes for no forumula, and worse, no circumcision. Every morning someone came in to tell us they were taking my son for his circumcision and every morning we told them OH NO YOU ARE NOT. It was ridiculous. If you deliver there I recommend you have the baby room in with you, and have your husband bring you food and bottled water.

Well, I would say Northwestern. My reason is they bought three large scale black and white photographs of mine (subject-children) so I think they have good taste and the beautiful visuals may help you heal faster.
Honestly, you should go where YOU feel comfortable not what other people say.
Congrats!

I had triplets at Rush 9 yrs ago and then my daughter in March. I am surprised at the comments from some about their post partum care. Mine was fantastic. I agree that nurses are very harried and some do take longer but I had no problem with them waiting to take my daughter for tests, and she needed special tests for a heart murmur (which thankfully turned out to be nothing and is gone now). My husband was able to sleep on a couch, not the best but not horrible and I had a private room since it was available.

I delivered at Prentice but understand from all my doctor friends that the nurses are much more senior and better trained than Northwestern.

Congratulations!

I delivered my second at Prentice in March 2008, and I strongly recommend it. I also had a scheduled c-section so that wasn't a concern for me. Here's why I really liked it:
--It is brand new, so it's super clean.
--You order your food when you want it - even at 3am. So there's no random food delivery when you don't want it, and no lack of food when you do. This is a huge benefit, more so than I expected even. And you choose what you want to eat, and the food it actually good! You can also order for your spouse for a small extra fee ($10 I think).
--The shower is really nice, when you really need it to be :) I had my first at the old Prentice, and the shower was one of the worst experiences in memory.

Other than that, I'd guess there's not much difference. The "daybed" for your husband is not that great - although may be much better than a recliner. And don't get sold on the idea of internet in the room - it is really painfully slow. But if you bring your own laptop, there's wifi that does work well.

Hope that helps!

Hi E.,
I delivered at the old Prentice facility, we delivered the month before it was completed... but when your delivering, the shiny new TVs don't really matter, right? Anyway, my son ended up being an emergency C. Our pp-care was excellent, we (my husband and I) stayed at the hospital for 4 days and up until the last day, our nurses were attentive and responsive, bringing my pain meds at the prescribed time/dosage. Not until that last day, did I realize that I actually had pain... and had to call for my past due sched meds, but by then the floor was swamped w/ other moms & babies. But overall, the nurses were excellent.
The food was excellent... I couldn't eat it all, so my husband ate well :-)
The lactation specialist or "lactation Nazi" was very helpful, a bit overzealous but encouraging... from the stats many moms quit so I got her point.
Hope this helps... wishing you a safe/easy delivery and a healthy, happy baby!

I've only delivered at the old Prentice, but the staff was amazing. The labor and delivery nurses are top notch. I couldn't have asked for better care. I was at the new Prentice a few weeks ago, (I'm also due in March) and it is beautiful. Plus, the NICU nurses and docs are fabulous. My daughter was in the NICU for a few days and I felt really comfortable going home at night to sleep knowing she was in great hands.

Hi E.,

This one is so easy for me---Rush hands down--I had an extremely high risk pregnancy & was on bed rest for 2 months (week 20 on )prior to my daughter being born at 27 weeks--I had a choice of any hospital I wanted to go to. I have a PPO & excellent insurance coverage--my gynocologist referred me to Rush saying they had a group of the finest doctors he ever worked with there. I dont work too far away, so I was sold...........that was before I knew I would have such a serious problem. I will make this very long story short---they educated me, updated & monitored me every step of the way & I remember them saying "when this happens it is going to happen fast & we need you as close as possible & thats exactly how it played out & thank God & these gifted physicians, my daughter is doing great--there was a good 4 week period where she would not have made it & due to the monitoring & the excellent care I received at Rush she was able to stay with me an additional 4 weeks which really helped out--although you may think 27 weeks is very very early to have a baby, I thank God & those doctors, nurses & that hospital for how well my daughter is doing....she is now 3 & I am expecting another baby in April--no question, I will be a Rush patient!Any questions, please dont hesitate to contact me!

E.,

I have only delivered at Rush, but my best friend delivered at Prentice. I had a fantastic experience at Rush. I had preclampsia so I was a very nervous first-timer but the nurses and doctor were so excellent and it went very smoothly. I actually ended up with 3 nurses in with me for the delivery including the head nurse for the department, who taught my birthing class in 2007, so you probably know her, D.. This was just a coincidence that they all ended up in there, but it was great to have the support. I was a few weeks early delivering, due to the preclampsia and we ended up going straight to L & D from a doctor's appointment, so we did not have anything with us. One of the residents ran around and found an old Polaroid camera to take our picture for us after the delivery, which I also thought was so kind. Just everything about the experience was great due to the staff. My only complaint is that I don't think that the lactation consultants I worked with were the best, but I was able to breastfeed my daughter for 9 months so obviously they were good enough : ) My husband definitely complained about the chair/bed that he slept on as well. When we decided to have a second we thought about changing hospitals because we have moved and I now work outside of the city, but it only took us about 5 minutes to decide to stick with Rush, despite the construction going on right now.

My friend that delivered at Prentice with her first and Evanston Northwestern with her second had complications as well, and was in the ICU after both of her babies were born (by c-section). Although her room was bigger than mine, the chair/bed/couch that her husband slept on did not seem any more comfortable than the one my husband slept on at Rush. When I visited her I hardly saw a nurse come visit her. She chose not to breastfeed, so I don't know about lactation consultants at Northwestern but I remember her telling me that they really pushed her to try to breastfeed, and I remember hearing that Northwestern is really big on breastfeeding so I would assume they have decent lactation consultants, if you need them.

My last bit of advice would be that we had a close friend that is now a nurse anesthetist. When I was expecting my first and trying to decide where to go, I told her I thought I was going to go to Rush because we lived really close to Rush at the time and she told me it is the best as far as nursing goes. She worked really hard trying to get into their program soon after that conversation because she said it was the best.

I think either way you are going to be at a great hospital.

Good Luck in your decision.

D.

Hi,

I would say Northwestern. I delivered my child there, and it was the best care I could have imagined. It exceeded my expectations. My sister delivered at Rush, and comparing the two, Northwestern is much better. I had a C section as well, and I was walking within a day. The nurses are great, and so are the docs, as well as all other staff at the hospital. Very friendly.
Good luck !

My first son was born at Prentice; my second at West Suburban, which I chose because my midwife practice was there and I was able to use their family birthing room with birthing tub.

Prentice was very nice and the rooms are quite large (I remember we hosted a bunch of our friends in our room after the baby arrived) and I think they are one of the big neonatal centers for high-risk births. They do have the small beds for husbands, and nice bathrooms, in the rooms. There's a parking garage not that far away. I seem to remember they had tours for expectant parents about once a month - you should take the tour and see what you think.

To me, the most important thing is being where your own doctor will go - I'm sure either will be fine (and your husband probably won't stay anyway since you have another child at home.)

My OB practice delivered at both hospitals as well. One of my doctors described the difference between the 2 hospitals like this:

- Rush does something like 4000 deliveries a year (I'm sure I don't remember this number accurately, sorry) so you're going to get more personal care from the nurses there
- Prentice does something like 13,000 deliveries a year, so you're going to get a more 'in and out' treatment there just based on the pure number of babies and moms! Kind of a more corporate feeling.
- Rush is an older hospital
- Prentice is brand spanking new
- Rush is easier to access from the west, Prentice is easier from the north

Lastly - Northwestern has their own way of doing things and philosophy about medicine (as all hospitals do), and they're relatively inflexible in them if you need acute care (I was in their high risk OB program for my first child and it was complicated), but they offer experienced, amazing care.

She said you couldn't go wrong at either, just depends on your own criteria. I ended up choosing Prentice for my scheduled c-section and it was fantastic. My husband and family LOVED it for the large room, baby in room with you, view, food and wifi. The nursing care was fine, though it was sometimes hard to get a hold of a nurse. But I was recovering well so I just assumed they were taking care of others who needed more attention. The lactation consultants weren't very good in my experience, though that may not be an issue for you since you're on your second child.

Good luck!
A.

I delivered at Rush.

Labor & Delivery - I received fantastic care, attention, and support.

Post-Partum - Absolutely terrible! I had one or two good nurses and the rest of them were just awful. My room was right next to the nurses' desk and while I did not mind the noise (that's to be expected) I was shocked and appalled about all the nasty comments that flowed freely from their mouths regarding other patients. I got QUITE the earful about this mom and that dad and so on; there was no hesitation when it came to bashing parents and babies. Also, they were VERY slow to respond. I don't expect them to treat me like a queen and wait on my hand and foot, but I was left waiting hours for basic things like water and ice (we would have gladly gone to get it had we known where it was). Dirty meal trays stayed in my room until the next meal arrived. Coordinating care was absurd; my son and I were having breastfeeding/latching issues and once we finally got him latched on and going someone would show up for some sort of bloodwork or other testing and INSIST that my son have the procedure done right then and there.

I know a hospital isn't a hotel, but the difference between the care and compassion in the labor and delivery unit as compared to what I experienced in the post-partum unit was night and day. If I have another child I will deliver at Rush again because my doctor delivers there, but I would definitely not look forward to post-partum.

I had some serious issues with Prentice's post-partum. My daughter was in the NICU for an elevated white blood cell count, and many of the nurses (although some were great) did just about everything they could to treat me like I was in the way, unqualified, and impeded breastfeeding as well. One NICU nurse even told me I shouldn't be feeding her so often because she needed to be on a schedule! The lactation consultant was great but it took days for me to finally meet with her and by then I was in tears.

What you are assured, and other friends who've delivered at Prentice have agreed with this, is that after your baby is born they pretty much act like the baby's theirs. I could go on and on about some other aspects but this post is pretty long as it is. In short, if I ever have another child I'd give birth in a cab before going there.

And your right, if you're recovering from childbirth you'll be too tired and busy to care if there's a big screen tv in your room.

I delivered at Prentice, but at the old Prentice, and I had the best experience!! The staff from check-in to delivery to post pardum was the absolute best. I never once felt like a burden (like some other hospitals have made me feel) and I was taken very well care of. I am so excited to deliver my next child at the new Prentice, but not because of all of the great stuff (although that is a nice bonus) but because I couldnt imagine going anywhere else.

HI E..
I am scheduled to give birth at Prentice in April. From what I;ve heard from friends who recently delivered there, they were very happy except for the lactation consultants. they said they weren't too hlepful. I've heard amazing things about Rush as well, so I'm sure you and your baby will be in good hands at both. Good luck!

I delivered a Prentice in August. While I've never been to Rush, I work in healthcare consulting, so I've been to a lot of hospitals. I can definitely say that Prentice is beautiful and the facilities are top notch. I don't know about not wanting to leave...I was pretty ready to get out of there after 2 days :)

Given your situation, a couple of things to consider

1. If you're going to be there 3 days with a C-section, you might want a place with a little nicer patient amenities.

2. The room sizes are quite large. They do "rooming in," so we never left our room with the baby. You honestly feel like you're in this little cocoon - it's hard to believe there's all these other moms and babies on the same floor with you.

3. Prentice validates parking for visitors, I believe that it is $9 for 6 hours, which is great for downtown.

4. They do food on demand. It's basically like a hotel's room service, where you call the number and they bring your food in an hour. I think food for families in a little extra. There's also a nice cafe on the second floor and they apparently have a bunch of delivery menus from Streeterville restaurants

5. There's a little pull out sofa for your husband. Granted it's not the most comfortable thing, but it sounds better than a recliner.

6. If your doctor delivers there, then you should be comfortable with that. I had an epidural and thought that the anesthesiologists were great. They came very quickly and were very comforting. And I had no complications. The whole triage process was incredibly efficienct (of course, it helped that I showed up 5 cm dilated, and in active labor so it was pretty clear that I needed to go right upstairs). I loved my L&D nurse. The post partum nurses were hit or miss. I felt like they were really harried. I think my room was the last room in the nurses's rotation because after shift change in the morning, I wouldn't see the nurse until 10:00 AM. It didn't bother me that much. They nurses all carry cell phones/pagers, so if I really needed something, they came pretty quickly. They were nice - I just felt like they had too many patients.

So just some thoughts for you to consider. It comes down to your personal preference. The amenities are definitely better at Prentice, but there's something to be said for familiarity/knowing what to expect. Good luck and congrats on your new addition!

Here is my two cents. I first started out at Northwestern for my OB care, and we were VERY unhappy. I was surprised at the cold, arrogant care we received in several departments. I switched over to Rush for the rest of my OB care and delivery and NEVER regretted the decision! We just felt so much more cared-for as people at Rush. That having been said, I did not deliver at Prentice, so I'm not sure how helpful this comment is. For what it's worth, my husband and I really felt that Northwestern coasts on its reputation, and the way we were treated, it's like we should just be grateful to be at Northwestern and they didn't need to make any further effort.

I hope you have a wonderful experience, no matter where you go - good luck!

Congrats on second baby to be first of all. I personally tend to stick with something I know if it worked out well the first time. That being said, why not take a tour of Northwestern and talk to the staff, etc. and go with you gut. I had a complicated delivery with my first born, delivered at MacNeal Hospital, and had a crappy experience with them to boot. This was back in 2002. Now I understand they have made great strides in patient care, so who knows. Anyhow, I delivered my second at Rush Copley
(I know different hospital, but a lot of the doctors also work at or have worked at Rush Chicago). It was the most wonderful experience. They were kind, compassionate, much better about visitors, and treating me like an individual. And I can say that for all of my doctor's there...I still drive back there to see my OBGYN and GI doctor even though it takes an hour. On the other hand, I have had many clients choose to drive from all the way out there to go to Northwestern (whether or not it was the new and improved Prentice I cannot honestly tell you), but I heard nothing but great things abut Northwestern. Modern ammenities are great, but when it comes to delivery of a baby you have to go with your gut. Would you have to change docs to go to Northwestern? I hope this helps, and good luck with your decision.

I delivered at Rush in 2005 and will have my second there next month. I had a complicated birth and was more than pleased with the outcome adn the expertise of the doctors and nurses. I have no doubts about how nice the new prentice is but feeding off Alexis L's comment on the nurses being harried and too many patients, it's not the first time I've heard that. But if you can deal with a little lack of attention from the nurses after you deliver, I don't think you could go wrong with either place - both are great. And with having a c-section and being in the hosp 3 instead of 2 days, you may want the newer, more hotel like setting. Best of luck to you and your family!

Hi E.. I delievered my son at Prentice in July. The facilities are excellent and delivery room staff outstanding. My son ended up in the NICU for a week and received top notch care. My after care, on the other hand, left much to be desired. I was pretty much left on my own because my son was in the NICU. The day after my delivery I wanted to take a shower, and so I paged the nurse. I end up with a 8 month pregnant nurse who is supposed to help me shower. Not exactly the safest idea. Anyway, the hospital itself is great, the labor and delivery nurses were outstanding and the NICU was superb. My husband and I were less than impressed with the maternity floor and the care I received. If you are happy with Rush and aren't looking for shiny TVs and internet access, I'd stay there. O- and the accomdations for the spouse are pretty much the same as other local hospitals- a pull out that is equivalent to the recliners at Rush. Good luck!