The RUSH Approach to Labor and Delivery

You and your family deserve the best for your baby — and RUSH delivers. We tailor our care to your childbirth goals, supporting you with our many birthing options in a safe and nurturing environment.

Delivering your baby at one of our state-of-the-art Family Birth Centers — located at our system hospitals in Chicago and Aurora — offers you the comforts of home in the safety of a hospital setting. In these family-centered environments, you and your baby stay in a private room with sleeping space for loved ones.

RUSH Excellence in Labor and Delivery

• Suites designed for privacy and family: Our Family Birth Centers at RUSH University Medical Center and RUSH Copley Medical Center offer you and your baby the best, from the beginning. Spacious and private labor and delivery suites include many of the comforts of home, from walk-in showers and flat-screen televisions to sleeping space for loved ones. Mother-baby suites, for after delivery, offer you the privacy and space for your baby to stay in your room for all care, including initial baths and exams by our pediatricians. This time together promotes bonding between you and your newborn and allows you and your loved ones the opportunity to ask our providers questions as they help you care for your baby.
• Pain management specific to your childbirth goals: Your labor and delivery team will help manage your labor pain based on your personal preferences. For moms choosing a natural (non-medicated) childbirth, our providers assist with relaxation and breathing techniques, as well as specialty equipment including birthing balls. If you choose to use pain medications during labor, your team will work with an anesthesiologist to help ensure you’re as comfortable as possible and safe through delivery.
• Alternative birth suite available: The alternative birth suite at RUSH Copley Medical Center offers a home-like birth in the safety of a hospital setting. We offer a large bathtub, shower, birthing sling and birthing seat to support your natural birth plan by easing discomfort and encouraging labor. Located in our Family Birth Center, the large room also includes a queen-size bed so you and your partner can bond with your baby after birth.
• Telemetry monitoring allows you to move during labor: Since contractions can stress some babies and affect their heart rates, RUSH providers keep a close watch on how your baby is handling labor and delivery through electronic monitoring. For moms interested in walking and moving during labor, we offer telemetry monitoring. This type of monitoring enables your provider to watch your baby's heart rate and allows you to be mobile. Being mobile can be an important part of anyone's labor, but especially a mom wanting an alternative birth.
• Gentle cesarean encourages bonding: Sometimes having a C-section can distract you from celebrating the first moments of welcoming a new baby. RUSH Copley Medical Center offers gentle C-section, which switch the traditional solid drape for a clear one, allowing moms to see their baby being born. Research has found that this technique helps parents feel more connected during the birth and bond more quickly with their baby.
• Screening for and treating depression in new moms: Before new moms leave the hospital, our providers screen them for symptoms of depression using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. If a new mom needs help, we connect her to resources, including RUSH University Medical Center’s Center for Women’s Behavioral and Mental Health. The earlier the diagnosis, the easier postpartum depression is to treat — and the better a new mom will feel as she bonds with and cares for her baby.
• “Baby-Friendly” certification honors commitment to breastfeeding and bonding: RUSH University Medical Center earned a “Baby-Friendly” designation from a national organization that honors hospitals for providing the best environments for breastfeeding. While we respect a mom’s choice in feeding her baby, it’s our goal to provide the optimal conditions for successful breastfeeding. This includes promoting skin-to-skin contact, having trained staff available after delivery and limiting separation between the mom and baby during their hospital stay.
• Highest level of NICU care: For some births, unexpected complications can require a baby to need extra care. Our level III neonatal intensive care units (NICU) at RUSH University Medical Center and RUSH Copley Medical Center are near our labor and delivery units, allowing our specialized neonatology team to care for your baby quickly in a time of need. Our state-of-the-art NICUs have private rooms with 24/7 access so families can be with their babies around-the-clock.
• Feeding our most vulnerable: RUSH University Medical Center continues to be a leader in providing breast milk to babies in our NICU. Our Mothers’ Milk Club provides educational lunches, accessible breast pumps and a peer counseling program to encourage breastfeeding. RUSH Copley Medical Center also encourages breastfeeding by offering lactation consultations in the NICU and utilizing donor milk (from an approved donor bank) to feed low birth weight babies.
• Caring for you after your hospital stay: RUSH University Medical Center wants to help ensure that your transition to home is a smooth one for your new family. Through our Family Connects program, part of Family Connects Chicago, a nurse will visit with Chicago residents who give birth at RUSH University Medical Center about three weeks after you return home. This check-in meeting, at home or virtual, will help us connect you to care and services that can help you thrive physically, mentally, emotionally and socially.