Childbirth Environment: Who Delivers the Baby?

Video Transcript

"So, you want to choose your doctor, or a midwife, or caregiver, or any doula or any person very carefully. You might already have an OB/GYN that you're seeing, and they might be great for your regular, you know, yearly exams, but once you get pregnant, you're going to have a different relationship and a different take on this person. You can choose a different doctor, don't feel like you have to stay with that doctor just because that's the doctor that you've been seeing. You want to think about what you're birth, what kind of birth you want, and you want to talk to that doctor and find out if they're going to be on board and o.k, with the type of birth you want. If you're getting answers that you don't like, switch. You want to switch as early in your pregnancy as possible. Some doctor's are not going to take women after they reach a certain month. It's different with each doctor, so if within those first four months, you're getting signs that this is not the right doctor for you, switch. If you get signs later on that this is not the right doctor for you, still see if you can switch, it's very important to have trust in your caregiver. As for a midwife, you're going to want to start visiting midwives as soon as you get pregnant, as soon as you know you're pregnant, and it's the same thing. Just because she's a midwife, and she gives, and she's going to you know, deliver babies in a hospital, birthing center, or a freestanding birthing center, or at home, that doesn't mean that you're going to just necessarily click with her, right away. So, feel free to visit different midwives, and find one that works with your personality. As for a doula, you can hire that much later in your pregnancy. You would definitely want to probably look into that at the start of your eighth month, or towards the end of your seventh month, because you want to again find somebody that's personality works with you. That's somebody that you're going to feel very comfortable with, you don't want to have anyone that makes you feel uneasy. And, you want to hire them really as soon as you can, because you want to make sure that they're blocking out that time for you, so that they're going to be on call for you. And, also then you have them at your disposal that if you want to ask questions, you can all them and ask them questions. It's sometimes much easier to call up a doula, and get questions answered right away versus calling a doctor and you might not get those questions answered right away. Or, you can ask them both the same question, because you might get two different answers, because people have different views. So, when you're looking for your caregiver, whether that be an OB/GYN or a midwife, you definitely want to shop around. Get the one that's right for you, feel free to change, that'll be fine. As for a doula, you want to make sure that you have someone that makes you feel completely comfortable and at ease."