Choosing your ideal birth provider or practice of provider can be an easy or hard task! Here are 5 things to look for when finding a provider to support you during your perinatal journey!
Your birth provider will be with you throughout your pregnancy journey and will play a crucial role in ensuring a safe and positive childbirth experience.
However, with so many options to choose from, it can be challenging to know where to start.
To help you make an informed decision, we’ve compiled a list of the top 5 things to look for in your ideal birth provider.
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5 Things To Look For In Your Birth Provider:
1. Credentials/ Statistics
Are they a midwife, OBGYN, or Family Medicine doctor? These are the most common types of delivering providers who can see you prenatally and attend your birth.
Having a licensed birth provider with experience in this field is something I looked for, but there are so many different types of providers!
For low risk pregnancies a midwife is a great option to choose! They can be one who attends out of hospital birth OR they also support births in a hospital.
For high risk pregnancies some midwives can care for you, but usually an OBGYN will be the one providing most of the care.
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Each birth provider approaches birth support a little differently so learning their personal approaches to birth support can be helpful.
Some questions to ask to learn more about the birth provider and how they do things:
Hospital Birth:
- What are their personal rates of different Interventions:
- Episiotomy
- Primary C-section Rate
- Vacuum/Forceps
- How do they support Pushing?
- Laceration rate, does everyone tear? or higher rates of intact perineums?
- Induction rates
- When will they start to recommend induction for you?
Community Birth:
- When will I risk out of being able to deliver at the intended location? Gestational Age and Conditions
- Transfer Policy and Where do you transfer?
- Will you come with me when I transfer?
- Interventions you offer during labor and postpartum?
2. Where Do They Support Birth and How Far is That From You?
Birth providers cannot deliver at just any hospital or birth location! They need to have credentials at a specific hospitals in order to provider care there. So knowing where your birth provider delivers can help you decide if that hospital fits your needs.
- How far is the hospital from your house? If that a reasonable drive for you?
- Do a Hospital tour and see if the hospital fits your needs
- Asking where to find the Hospital Ratings for Maternal Care, to include episiotomy rates, c-section rate, and complication.
- Do they have a NICU or a Nursery?
These questions can help you decide if this practice is the right one for you based on where they deliver! If choosing to deliver in a hospital, knowing that the birth provider is only a part of your experience. The hospital also matters!
At a hospital, they will usually use more interventions in the birth process compared to Community Birth, but it can be hospital and provider dependent! Some hospitals/providers do not use many interventions during the birthing process. Asking for their preferences and how they routinely support birth during a tour could be helpful!
If your provider delivers in the Community (out of hospital)
- Is it at home or a free-standing birth center?
- If it is a free-standing birth center, how far is that from your house? What resources do they offer? Is this reasonable for you?
- If delivering at home, how far does the provider live from your house
3. Supportive versus Tolerant
Finding a supportive birth provider not just a tolerant provider can make a big difference.
A supportive birth provider is someone who wants to hear your birth wishes, and what birth options you are wanting. To include alternatives to the routine practice. They will go over the risks and benefits of those options/alternatives and then you decide together on the best route for you! It is more of a collaborative process for your prenatal and labor care. They will listen to you, and actually be hearing what you are saying.
A tolerant birth provider will listen to what you want to do, but may not be supportive or “hear” everything you want to do in your pregnancy or birth. They may let you voice your wants or concerns, but might be dismissive about them or get defensive that you are questioning them as a provider because they don’t support the other options.
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4. Birth Options/Alternative care Available
What options do they offer during pregnancy aside from the routine care? What options do they offer during labor and during the golden hour?
What is their definition of the birth option? How do they perform the birth option?
ex: Delayed cord clamping: How long do the delay for and their philosophy on it. Some doctors still believe that delaying for longer than 30 secs to 1 min increases risks for the baby. Or lifting the baby above the perineum during delayed cord clamping will cause the blood to leave the baby and go back into the placenta. These would be important things to know about your birth provider if you are wanting delayed cord clamping for your baby!
What alternative care options do they offer or support?
ex: Not wanting to do the traditional gestational diabetes test with the glucola drink, and wanting to do an alternative drink like the Fresh test, or monitoring your blood sugar for 1-2 weeks. Which alternative do they support and which ones do they not? OR Will they not support any alternative?
5. Chemistry
Everyone has a certain personality that vibes with different people. Not everyone will vibe with the same people, just like some people like certain birth providers that others do not get along with.
If you feel uneasy, or dread going to your provider appointments because you just don’t vibe with your birth provider, it might be time to find a new one.
I like to meet the birth provider early on to see if it is a good fit with personalities, ESPECIALLY if you are planning an out of hospital birth or are in a private practice and the provider you see during your visits is the one you will see at birth.
For both of my births, I wanted to make sure that I would feel safe and supported by the midwife/midwives that would be there. I saw the same midwife my entire pregnancy with my first and she was able to make it for my birth. With my second I met with each Wifey at the Birth Center and clicked well with each one! I knew I was in good hands going into labor in both cases!
Ask around!
You don’t need to rely on how you felt when meeting your provider the first time either! You can join other local pregnancy/parent groups to see who they recommend. How their births went and which birth location seems to have better experiences than others!
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Choosing your birth provider can be a difficulty or easy decision depending on where you life. Some places there is only one reasonable option to deliver at, and other places there are TONS of options. Know that in most cases, you have options. If you are not satisfied with your care, see out a new provider!
You get to decide who is at your birth, to include your provider!
By considering the five key factors we’ve outlined in this article, you can make an informed decision about who will best meet your needs to be your birth provider.