Top birthing experience

Private birthing and recovery suites: Your labor, delivery and initial recovery will all take place in a comfortable, private suite, which features a bathroom, shower, Wi-Fi, movies and music. Your spouse, partner or support person is welcome to stay with you in the suite the whole time. After your initial recovery, you'll continue your stay in another private room.

Pregnancy navigator: We offer moms-to-be access to a pregnancy navigator for free. Expectant moms can sign up for this service in their first, second or third trimester. The pregnancy navigator will help you individualize your birthing experience. She'll answer your questions, direct you to classes and programs and provide you with the personal attention you deserve.

Pampered Pregnancy Program: Whether it's your first or fourth baby, you can choose to register for our Pampered Pregnancy Program. This complimentary program aims to give you the birth experience you want. It includes individualized guidance as well as such benefits as a complimentary massage and facial at our Good Shepherd Hospital Health and Fitness Center. To register or for more information about the Pampered Pregnancy Program, please call 847-842-2769, email Samantha Pagliuco at Samantha.Pagliuco@aah.org, or submit our online form.

Doula Partnership Program: Our nurses recognize the important contributions doulas offer moms, so we'll work with yours throughout your delivery to ensure optimal satisfaction and outcomes.

Family bonding practices: We promote bonding through immediate skin-to-skin contact and parent-assisted bathing. We practice rooming-in which allows us to keep mom and baby together during the hospital stay.

Family-centered cesarean: Family is the focus of our gentle cesareans, which can decrease anxiety and lead to less pain medication for mom. With typical cesareans, a drape shields the sterile operating field. With a family-centered cesarean, the drape is placed so that mom can receive her baby immediately after birth and bond with him or her through skin-to-skin contact.

Advanced services, just in case: We're a level II extended neonatal capabilities perinatal care facility that's staffed 24/7 with access to neonatologists, OBs and pediatric hospitalists. If your baby needs an even higher level of treatment, we’re backed by the resources at Advocate Children’s Hospital, which offers the highest level of neonatal and pediatric care available in Illinois.

Breastfeeding support

• Before delivery: We offer prenatal breastfeeding classes on a regular basis to help you prepare for your breastfeeding journey. Register for an online class today.
• During your stay: All of our OB nurses have special training in breastfeeding support and can help you get the best possible start. If you need more assistance, a lactation consultant is available.
• After birth: We offer a complimentary Baby Bistro breastfeeding support group every Thursday from 10:30 am - noon in the Integrative Medicine Conference Room. You can enter through the West Pavilion Entrance. There's no fee or registration required. For questions, call the lactation office at 847-842-5569

Milk donation

Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital is a milk depot for the Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes. This allows approved local donors to drop off their frozen breast milk at our hospital rather than ship or drive it to the milk bank in Elk Grove Village. When the milk from the depot arrives at the milk bank, it's pasteurized and processed according to the standards of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America.

For more information on becoming a breast milk donor, call the Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes at 847-262-5134 or Advocate Good Shepherd's Holly Pilarek at 847-842-5569.

Select a class to learn more and register online. You can also register by calling 1-800-3-ADVOCATE and mentioning the class code.

Childbirth classes:

• Great expectations - early pregnancy class (3B09)
• Childbirth education - weeknight series (3B05)
• Additional Comfort Techniques for Labor (3B20)
• Childbirth refresher (3B08)
• Vaginal birth after cesarean (3B03)

Classes to prepare everyone:

• Twins or more! (3B04)
• Breastfeeding (3B10)
• Parenting Workshop (3P22)
• Newborn basics (3B01)
• Grandparenting class (3B07)

Classes for baby:

• Happiest baby on the block (3B16)
• Browse childbirth and parenting classes

Support groups

Baby Bistro:We offer a complimentary Baby Bistro breastfeeding support group every Thursday 10:30 am - noon in the Integrative Medicine Conference Room. Enter the hospital through the West Pavilion Entrance. There’s no fee or registration required. For questions, call the lactation office at 847-842-5569.

Additional resources

Advocate Health Care offers a range of resources for moms and babies, including baby pictures and hearing tests. View Advocate's resources.