B.E.S.T. (Breastfeeding Education and Sharing Time) 

St. Alexius Medical Center

Fourth Floor Conference Rooms

1555 Barrington Rd.

Hoffman Estates, IL 60160

847-843-2000

(The group is always held in the fourth floor conference rooms. However, it is not always in the same room. A list of events/room numbers is always posted right outside the conference room area.)

Cost:  Free

Ages welcome: Nursing moms and their children, prospective moms

Hours:  10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Mondays

Parent Comments & Ratings

PROS

Are you itching to get out of the house, but worried about venturing out with your baby? B.E.S.T. may just be the perfect group for you. New mommies sit in a circle, as babies lie on their blankets or crawl around the room, playing with toys. The mommies socialize, vent, seek advice from other mothers, and ask plenty of questions of the lactation consultant running the group. Sometimes there’s laughing, sometimes there’s crying (and I’m not just talking about the babies), but whatever the noise at B.E.S.T., it’s welcoming to a frazzled new mother, who has few public places where she can feel relaxed.

I credit this group with getting me through all the tough stages of breastfeeding – from latch-on to milk supply to introducing solids to a “distracted nurser” to toddler nursing. I received amazing advice from Lisa Moy, the lactation consultant who leads the group, as well as the other mothers. We did a lot of problem solving together on all our issues – of course, sleep was a big one! (Poop was up there too.)

One thing I really like about the group is that it is non-judgmental. I attended regularly for over two years. (I still pop in from time to time and attend the holiday parties.) During that time, I never heard anyone scold a mommy for using a pacifier or sleeping with her baby. It’s more of an open discussion, where moms share what has worked for them. Many times, just hearing I wasn’t alone in what I was experiencing helped immensely. As a new mom, I felt stressed, overwhelmed and depressed at times. Finding this group helped keep me sane through the rough patches.

CONS

During the first few months of my son’s life, I felt like meeting once a week just wasn’t enough. I loved socializing with the other new mommies in the group, and couldn’t wait for Monday to roll around. However, if a nursing issue arose during the week, I was able to call the lactation consultants at St. Alexius.

The only “real” downside I can think of is that the room isn’t ideal for busy toddlers. After my son became a proficient walker, he got bored sitting around, and watching my son at the group became somewhat stressful. I was always worried that the new mommies couldn’t properly relax with my toddler running around.

LOGISTICS

The hospital provides fresh fruit, graham crackers and juice during the B.E.S.T. gathering.

If you are stopped upon entering the hospital and told you cannot bring your child in due to H1N1, tell them you are not going to visit any patients. Let them know you’re there for the breastfeeding support group that Lisa Moy heads. The group is held in the fourth floor conference rooms.

One piece of advice – if you have a lot of questions, write them down. Mommy brain stumps the best of us when we’re trying to remember what happened during the week and what it is we wanted to discuss.