Places to Give Birth: Burr Ridge Birth Center - PERMANENTLY CLOSED

A series in which I share my own experience of birth places around the Chicagoland area plus the data that we have available. There is no one right place to give birth, and the right place for you is the place where you feel safest. This article is now an archive of experiences with the midwives at Burr Ridge Birth Center.

Part 1: Birth Center of Chicago - reopened December 2025

Part 2: Illinois Masonic

Part 3: Northwestern Prentice

Part 4: Evanston Hospital

Part 5: OMG Midwives at Hinsdale

Part 6: Burr Ridge Birth Center (you are here); permanently closed April 2026

Part 7: Swedish Hospital

Part 8: Birth Roots Community Midwifery

Burr Ridge Birth Center Closing - April 2026

I am so sad to be updating this blog post with news that Burr Ridge Birth Center is permanently closed. Although I have no inside information, I understand that staff were not being paid and that Burr Ridge Birth Center has been in financial trouble for quite some time. I am sickened by the thought that the amazing clinical staff at Burr Ridge Birth Center was being taken exploited financially. I am stunned that whatever happened came to a head so abruptly that the whole center could close and be emptied within a week.

When Burr Ridge Birth Center opened in 2021 it was a dreamy space co-created by Sarah Stetina, Anna Bonick, and Corrine Westing. Anna brought me in as an educator and I began teaching Comfort and Coping. Over the next 4 years I taught over 150 families childbirth education, and I supported several families who gave birth at Burr Ridge Birth Center. I went in for my own care. In the early days, I felt welcome and affirmed as a queer person in the space.

In my past life as a teacher, I saw how leaders with true vision can hold a place up even in the face of difficult circumstances. As an assistant principal, I imagined myself like an umbrella, trying to deflect the rain away from teachers, students, and families. It is both noble and impossible to try and protect a whole community from poor upper management. I know first hand the extreme personal cost.

After that initial Burr Ridge Birth Center dream team left, things started to come apart. A couple of loud voices complained about the inclusivity and the upper management cowed. The front of house vibes were off. You'll see in my original article that I wrote that the parent company, BPI, was always a for-profit endeavor. I have a lot of anger towards anyone who tries to profit off of people on one of the most vulnerable days of their life.

About a month ago, in March, there was a lapse in liability insurance coverage and Burr Ridge Birth Center sent anyone who went into labor during that weekend to the hospital. There was no greater communication to the community, so clients only found out if they called in to say they were in labor. This was never publicly acknowledged, so I viewed it as a huge breach of trust from the upper management. Staff was reassured that this was a fluke, not a larger financial issue. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, Burr Ridge Birth Center stopped paying staff and asked them to work without pay until finances were sorted out. Finances were not sorted out and the abrupt closure began to leak out during the week of April 13th. All staff were told that they had to be out of the building by Sunday, April 19th. As far as I know, no formal statement has been made. Many clients, former clients, and doulas found out by word of mouth.

Make no mistake, the clinical staff at Burr Ridge Birth Center was excellent. This is a huge blow to the Chicagoland community. Many people want an out of hospital experience but are not yet ready to commit to home birth (despite the similar safety and health outcomes). The loss of BRBC leaves a hole in the heart of the birth community here, and a vacuum of space that over 100 families need to fill for their upcoming births. If you are looking for an experience like Burr Ridge and you're in that general area, I can recommend you take a look at the OMG Midwives at Hinsdale or Birth Roots Midwifery.

I am going to leave my old post up as an archive of what Burr Ridge Birth Center was. I believe that understanding the historical context of the birth landscape is both informative and important for all birth workers and for families who are trying to understand their care options. As my colleague Emily said so beautifully, Burr Ridge Birth Center was only a building. The people are all still here.

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Archived Post

Burr Ridge Birth Center Experience

Burr Ridge Birth Center (BRBC) is located in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago right off of Route 55. It is a freestanding building with an ample parking lot, a full kitchen, a clinic, a classroom, and 3 beautiful birthing suites. The staff is warm and welcoming and will immediately invite you to help yourself to coffee, tea, or infused water.

Waiting area of BRBC includes a full kitchen

Birth Centers are meant to marry a home-like, comfortable setting with medical equipment plus expertise to handle most complications. If you want a home birth, but you or your partner are unsure about being outside of a medical setting, a birth center might be the right fit for you.

That said, there is a common misconception that birth centers are "safer" than home births. Birth center and home birth midwives carry all of the same medication and equipment, so the biggest difference is the physical location. Regardless of whether you are hoping for a home birth or a birth center birth, you will need to be evaluated and deemed low-risk throughout your pregnancy in order to qualify to give birth outside of a hospital.

Burr Ridge Birth Center is the sibling birth center to Birth Center of Chicago. They are both run by the same parent company, Birth Partners Inc (BPI). I think that it is helpful to know about the BRBC-BCC link because then you know that the policies and philosophy are going to be very similar.

• I also think it is important to know that BPI is a private-equity endeavor co-owned by Dele Ogunleye (an OB) and COO Laura Wiegand (a midwife from Bloomington-Normal). Over the past several years they have opened or purchased several birth centers in IL, WA, OH, NC, and CO. I think their mission is beautiful - to bring more out of hospital options to locations across the country. I feel worried about the fact that these are all for-profit ventures. I don't think that anyone should be trying to make money off of birth, and that is a reminder of how special the South Side Birth Center is.

Midwives at BRBC

You will receive all your prenatal care from the Burr Ridge Birth Center midwifery team. Mary Heater has worked in a variety of settings and brings lots of wisdom into the room. Kathleen used to work at BCC before she moved out to the suburbs, so you can really see how the teams work together!

Grace is fam (member of the LGBTQ+ community). She is excellent at counseling clients and a real gem in the birth space. That said, I did have an lesbian family give birth at Burr Ridge Birth Center in 2025 and they felt that they did not receive queer-friendly care. Mostly, they felt that the staff just didn't have experience working with queer families, and when they asked they found out they were only the second queer family in a year. That is only one experience so take it lightly. As a queer person myself, I do think that the location of this birth center probably influences the folks who go there and the birth center has adapted over time to attract the local clientele.

There used to be a sign that said "All pregnant people are welcome in this space" hanging in the lobby. It is in a closet now (and the irony isn't lost on me).

Midwife Grace with a client

Sometimes in a hospital setting declining something that is "protocol" can be a lot of conversation and work. With Burr Ridge Birth Center, they only use IVs when medically necessary, you can birth in any position you want, and they do intermittent auscultation rather than continuous fetal monitoring. You can eat and drink freely and only have cervical exams that you want. Want to wait until your baby's umbilical cord is white before cutting it? Literally, no problem. Waterbirth? You got it! You also get 3 postpartum visits in the first 2 weeks, whereas medical standard is 1 visit at the end of 6 weeks. Their care honors the parent-baby dyad and is generally more holistic.

Key Statistics and Information

You can read the full report for 2024 on the Burr Ridge Birth Center blog here. Note: they have not released updated data for 2025.

• Midwifery-led care for all patients

• 171 babies born in 2024

• Cesarean Rate: 6.6%

  • The national rate is 25.6% and the IL rate is 32.4%

  • BRBC does not have an OR, so these are clients that transferred to the hospital either prenatally or in labor

• Epidural rate: not available (see transfer rate)

• Induction rate: not available

• Transfer rate during labor

  • 24 people who were eligible to give birth at the birth center transferred out of their care during labor

  • 1 of these transfers was urgent

• 48% of clients chose to have doula support

• Waterbirth: 52%, tubs in each birth suite

• Not able to support VBAC (trial of labor after Cesarean) clients

• No NICU (transfers are made to Hinsdale, Perinatal Level III)

  • 1 urgent newborn transfer

  • 8 non-urgent newborn transfers

• Visitors: 3 people plus a doula (4 total)

  • Siblings are allowed with their own support person

  • Photographers are allowed

• No data on breast/chest feeding, but BRBC is very supportive of nursing

• Eating and drinking is unrestricted during labor

Services and Amenities

Giant tub? Check. Big bed to snuggle as a new family? Duh. Plus peanut balls, Swedish ladders, and birth stools galore. You name it, they got it. Birth is never easy, but it can be a little easier when you are in a homey and comfortable environment. Truly, I cannot think of one single tool that I wish the birth center had and they don't.

Next Steps

If you are interested in giving birth here, or honestly just curious, the best think you can do is go take a tour! You will get so much more information and be able to vibe check. People are always concerned about insurance. Burr Ridge Birth Center takes Blue Cross PPO, United PPO, Humana, and also offers payment plans. When you take a tour you can ask them to verify your benefits so that you have a better sense of your out of pocket costs.

I'm trying not to go on a rant about insurance (free Luigi!) but I also do wish that some clients really thought through all the costs - not just monetary. Like you might find a place where you pay less money but you might also pay in other things like not being listened to or not getting the care you want and deserve. Anyway, I get it, we live in an healthcare hellscape. They have payment plans.

Ask me anything! I love attending births here and would be happy to chat more.

Full Series

Part 1: Birth Center of Chicago - reopened December 2025

Part 2: Illinois Masonic

Part 3: Northwestern Prentice

Part 4: Evanston Hospital

Part 5: OMG Midwives at Hinsdale

Part 6: Burr Ridge Birth Center (you are here); permanently April 2026

Part 7: Swedish Hospital

Part 8: Birth Roots Community Midwifery