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Part 3 of my series about places to give birth in and around the Chicago area features Northwestern Prentice Women's Hospital. Prentice is delivering three times more babies than the next largest hospitals in the Chicago area (almost 12,000 per year). It is a complicated institution. People love it. Have mixed feelings about it. Hate it. *Note: they have a very active patient-relations team which makes negative reviews harder to find.* Read on to learn more.
Part 1: Birth Center of Chicago
Part 2: Illinois Masonic
What do people say about Northwestern Prentice?*
"The views of the lake are great."
"If you want an unmedicated birth, go elsewhere."
"It is THE place in Chicago to give birth."
"It's a baby factory."
"The food is mediocre."
"Best epidural in the city!"
"They put protocol above humans."
"The rooms make it feel like a luxury vacation."
"The hospital cuts first, and asks questions about what you want later."
"It is a state of the art facility."
"The NICU is amazing."
"There is a rotating door of residents who will be touching your cervix so they can learn."
"Prentice is a business and they put money over people."
*all paraphrased from my own clients, providers I know, and real reviews online
Prentice is a large hospital and part of the Northwestern system, so the name garners a lot of respect and trust. Lurie, the children's hospital, is world renown for treating chronically sick children and tricky cases. They are a big deal. They are also delivering more babies than anywhere else in Chicago by A LOT. About 30 babies are born a day, so about 12,000 per year. Other competing hospitals are doing 3-4,000 births a year (10/day). A very different number! There is no official policy about limiting the length of your labor, but they are delivering about 30 babies a day and they have 32 rooms... so you can do some math and understand they don't want you to linger.
There are over 300 OBGYNs associated with Prentice and I don't think I've ever run into the same nurse twice. Again, this is why Prentice has strict policies and procedures: they have to with such a high volume of staff and patients. Nurses tend to be new, young, and living in the area - down to work hard and make some good money. You don't tend to run into many RNs who have been in the profession a long time. In other words, staff community and camaraderie is hard to come by and you are more likely to have a newer, less experienced nurse.
Prentice is also a research hospital and was a major player in the ARRIVE Trial that came out in 2018 to determine whether or not 39-week inductions help to lower cesarean rates. Since this trial required true informed consent, only about 1/4th of the people approached to participate agreed to be in it. The results, though widely criticized, confirmed that early inductions slightly lower the risk of cesarean (note: other studies since then have found the opposite). Since Prentice was a participant in this study, they tend toward an induction-heavy culture. You can expect your doctors to bring up inductions early and often, which many people experience as feeling pressured. If you don't want an induction on your due date, expect to have several, longer conversations with your doc.
Prentice Experience
You'll start by coming into OB triage on the first floor. Many people take advantage of the 24-hour valet parking since you'll be paying an arm and leg to park whether or not you park your car yourself (downtown Chicago prices). The triage rooms are teeny tiny, and often no one is allowed back with you. The policy is that 1 support person plys one doula are allowed, but it depends on who is working. Usually partners are called back, but rarely doulas. With your stuff, the room is going to feel a bit claustrophobic.
After you've been admitted you'll be taken up to floor 8 in an elevator and assigned one of the 32 spacious labor and delivery rooms. The large rooms are part of Prentice's claim to fame. Most of the east facing rooms have a view of Lake Michigan, one of the reasons that people are so into the aesthetic of Prentice. There are nourishment rooms down the hall with ice, juice, and ginger ale.
Each room has a peanut ball and you can ask your nurse for a birth ball. Rooms are also equipped with wireless monitors to support Prentice's policy of continuous fetal monitoring for every patient. Prentice advertises 2 birth tubs, but I have never seen them. For 2 years they were "broken" or my clients' BMIs were "too high" to allow them to use the tub. A colleague of mine recently saw a tub on wheels, but no one knew how to use it so they didn't manage to get more than a few inches of water into it before it started leaking. If a waterbirth is on your wish list, this facility is not for you.
Like Illinois Masonic, Prentice is a teaching hospital, which means that you will likely receive quite a lot of care from residents. I've had clients pull strings to get an attending in to place their epidural. If you don't have that kind of hook-up, you can always ask for an attending, but if they are not available, you likely won't get one. That said, Prentice is rumored to have a 95% epidural rate so everyone on the anesthesiology team has a lot of practice placing epidurals. Prentice has a reputation for high satisfaction with epidurals.
Despite the fact that Prentice is delivering 30+ babies a day, it is quiet in the hallways due to a strict policy of no one being allowed to stand in the hallway. If you need to step out, you'll need to leave the ward and go to the waiting room or down to the lobby. There is a 24-hour Dunkin on the second floor as well as many other food options in the building and the surrounding area.
Midwives at Prentice
Prentice has a midwifery practice, which many clients do seek out if they are looking for a lower intervention birth. Midwifery care generally tends to be more human-centric and slower paced. I've seen midwives spend more time with clients while they are pushing than OBs typically do. As I've mentioned, Prentice is a huge hospital and in order to run well, they have strict policies and protocols in place. The midwives are subject to those same policies and protocols. While sometimes I see hospital midwives practicing with slightly more risk tolerance overall than OBs, that is much less likely at Prentice.
Key Statistics & Information
All of these numbers are estimates, pulled from birthguidechicago.com, a 2021-22 Illinois report card, and LeapFrog.
OB and midwifery-led care
12k+ births per year
Cesarean Rate: 23%
The WHO recommends a 10-15% rate maximum
U.S. National average was 32.4% in 2023, and has increased every year for 4 years
Epidural rate: no data (rumors that it is as high as 95%)
Induction rate: no data
Instrument deliveries (vacuum, forceps): 392 in 2022 (3%)
Doula support: no data
Birthtubs advertised, but I don't know anyone who's ever seen it; waterbirth not allowed (clients must get out of the tub to push)
Supports VBAC
296 VBACs in 2022; that's about 2% of all births in the year, so they don't have a ton of experience with VBACs
Perinatal Level III:Â highest level of care
Visitors: 2 visitors per patient during visiting hours (8am-8pm)
Children 12 and under need supervision
40% of babies exclusively breast/chest fed
Eating and drinking is restricted to clear fluids and foods only (broth, jello, etc.)
My two cents as a doula
Choosing a place to give birth can be overwhelming, especially when American insurance complicates your options. I understand why so many people choose to go to Northwestern, given the prestige of the university and Lurie Children's Hospital. Prentice is a state of the art hospital delivering a high-tech, medicalized experience.
Prentice might be a good fit for you if:
You are planning an epidural
You view birth as a medical event which you would like others to manage
You prefer strict rules and protocols are followed, rather case-by-case decision making
You don't have some of the "risk factors" that will flag you for certain policies and procedures: are under 35, have a low BMI, conceived without using IVF
I've had clients say that they don't prefer Prentice, but that their provider is there and they are most comfortable with their provider. Please note that there are over 300 OBs practicing at Prentice and you are unlikely to see your regular provider during your labor and birth. Also note that most doctors can only bill for a limited amount of time with you (at any hospital), so you will likely just see your doc once during labor for a few minutes and then at the very end of the pushing phase for delivery (they can usually only bill for about 20 minutes).
Other clients tell me that they want a low-intervention experience, but that they are nervous about an out-of-hospital experience for their first baby. That is totally valid and fair. For these folks, I usually recommend shopping around a bit between hospitals before settling on one. Even if you are in your second or third trimester, it is not too late to switch care (and it's not as dramatic as you might think).
Please don't choose a location based on the view, the aesthetic, or the brand name. Choose a place that matches well with your goals for labor and delivery. If you want Chinese food, you don't go to an Italian restaurant and hope that they will serve you a delicious wonton. If you want a personalized experience, don't go to the largest hospital in the area. If you want an unmedicated birth, don't go to a place that is rumored to have a 95% epidural rate. If you feed strongly about avoiding a cesarean, choose a practice with a low cesarean rate, etc.
Next Steps
Check insurance coverage here. If you are interested in learning more about birth at Prentice, I recommend that you call and ask for a tour. Prentice has a marketing team and reviews seem to be carefully curated, so make sure you talk to people who have actually given birth there. Ideally, you want to talk to others who have given birth there and/or people who work there. Or talk to a doula!