Tour of Prentice Women's Hospital

NorthWestern built a new Prentice Women's Hospital, and it should be up and running by the end of the month. In the meantime, the only way to get a tour was to get us invited to the community open house which was on Sunday. I had no idea it would be such a party! They had white tents set up outside the new building, and local businesses had food and drink there for free, and there was a stage for entertainment and speeches. When we were there, a Beatles tribute band dressed as the be-suited fab four singing the old love songs (pre-Sgt. Pepper) played, and I regretted not bringing my mom! We had free tiramisu, Ben had fresh guacamole, we had fancy muffins and whatnot from various places, and a tea company gave out iced pumpkin chai--yum yum! We signed up for the tour and received arm bands for entry.

The tour included the whole building, not just labor & delivery. We saw the fancy entryway, where I used the bathroom (even the bathroom was beautiful--Ben's comment: of course it is) and the education center and the cafeteria where they were also having cooking classes, and the conference rooms. The first three floors are open to the public and feel more like an expensive college or high end hotel. Up from that it's patients and visitors only and turns into a hospital. The neat thing is that unlike most L&D units in hospitals, this is independant and you don't have to sort thru a maze of antiseptic halls to find it. Also, it's big, with tons of rooms, and guaranteed privacy.

We saw a surgery room, with it's fancy hi-tech equipment of which they were very proud, so if I have a C-section I'll know what to expect! Yikes. The L&D rooms were much as you'd expect, with the wood floors and big TVs and stereos and warming/cleaning station for the newborn. You have internet access and a keyboard along with the TV remote and nurse call button, so, I joked, you can blog while in labor! Ha ha. They have rooms divided into zones (I joked they should have tape on the floor) for family, patient, doc, and baby. All equipment is off to the side in the "doctor zone" so family won't trip over cords or IV lines. All rooms are around the outside of the building and you are guaranteed to see a view of the city or the lake. There's a long bench for dads to sleep over, and you can have as many people as you can stand with you.

We saw the NICU, and it's beautiful. They have breast pumps built into the wall so moms can provide milk for their preemies, and there are comfy chairs for mom to nurse in, and again, views of the city and lake. There are removable wall dividers in case you have multiples, and soft lighting and pretty blue stars on the windowed dividers and curtains. They have those fancy cubicle baby beds of course in each unit.

The L&D recovery rooms are up on another floor and again, same thing with the views. Again with the wood floors and internet access. Baby rooms in with you. Window bench for dad to sleep on again. All visitors are called up from reception and you can say "yes" or "no" and there are no visitor's hours to restrict them. Dads aren't even "visitors", they are just "in" with mom and baby. There are two lactation consultants on staff and on hand for trouble-shooting.

Drawback: Might be expensive. Plus Side: Covered by my insurance 90%. (Ben's comment: yeah, but how much will that 10% be???) Drawback: They might not let Ben follow the baby to the nursery for tests, like he was able to do with Tyler. But we got a similar answer from Loyola. Big Plus: Oooooh, if feels so good to be there! Drawback: Expensive parking. Patients & visitors can get parking validation at their lot across the street for the reduced rate of only $9--yikes! Otherwise it's $24--double...no make that triple...yikes! Loyola only costs $3. I already have one friend who says she won't drive into the city, but I hope to arrange a family carpool. If, that is, we go with Prentice. I'm all a-shiver.