Hire your provider:
Did you realize you are hiring your provider to help YOU delivery your baby? You should take as much time in vetting your provider as you do in hiring a plumber, mechanic, DJ for your wedding or choosing paint color for your home. However, many people just go with the person they always went to for well visits or the provider their friends used or the top recommendation from a parent group without any qualifying details.
Don’t fall victim to the trap of falling into the care of someone. Actively choose your provider and you will actively choose your entire birth experience.
Why it matters:
Your provider is the number one determining factor in how your birth will turn out. Not your BMI, age, health conditions, size of your baby or risk factors. The mindset and skillset of your provider will determine the outcome. Given the terrible state of maternal and fetal mortality rates here in the US, it is clear you must take charge of your health care, by being active in the decision making process. Choosing your provider and being part of the conversation, may very well save your life and or the life of your baby.
How do you do this?
It starts with knowing what you want. If you desire a natural labor, you are going to need a very different provider than someone who is seeking a highly qualified surgeon for their surgical delivery. Ask questions which align to your birthing goals. Then listen closely for the answers.
For this post, we will explore questions to ask a provider if you are seeking an unmedicated birth.
What do you ask?
What is your personal and practice c-section rate?
What percentage of patients birth without epidural?
How many unmedicated/unaugmented births have you attended in the last year?
What advice do you have to support an unaugmented/ unmedicated delivery?
What would be the medical indications for an induction?
What alternatives would you suggest before that intervention?
What would be the reasons you would use Pitocin/ Synthetic Oxytocin during labor?
What is the most unusual position you’ve had a patient deliver?
Are there any positions you are not comfortable with a patient using to deliver?
We very much respect your expertise in this field, but we also know that based on the current fetal and maternal outcomes in this country, we have a responsibility to be part of the decision making process during pregnancy, labor and delivery. How do you feel about discussing interventions and having us accept or decline them?
This is just a starting point for questions you might ask. By engaging your providers in dialogue you will get a sense for their true beliefs about birth. Listen to see if they value you as an equal decision maker or see you as lesser in the relationship. Are they engaged in the conversation or dismissive? Do they make you feel empowered or foolish? Does the conversation leave you feeling more confident or uncomfortable? If you listen to their words and sit with your intuition, you will know which direction to go when it comes to whether they should be invited into your birth space. If you need help in this process, please let us know. We have amazing doctors in this area and we can help you connect with them.
PS- it’s not too late to switch until the baby has been born.
