With planning, childbirth choices are yours to make

<p>The birth and the death of a family member are two of the most memorable moments we are likely to encounter in our lifetime. We often have little time to plan for death, but women anticipating birth can spend months, even years, planning which style of childbirth they desire.</p><p>Planning a birth increases the chance the event will be safe, successful and remembered without regrets. Knowing your options and the subtleties of the different styles of health care professionals can help you make decisions that will affect the whole pregnancy and birth process.</p><p>Women in our culture do not give birth alone. With the right support during a birth, a woman feels safe and is able to allow the birth process to occur without unintentionally allowing her own fear to cause complications.</p><p>For some women, this safe place is a hospital with all available technology within arm's reach. Others feel safe only in their own homes with most technology left clear across town. These choices are governed by the health care provider you choose and the place your provider practices.</p><p>Choose a midwife, and you can get a birth at home, at a freestanding birth center, or in a local hospital. The location will shape the style of your birth as definitively as the midwife will. Midwives are able to spend more time with their clients at each prenatal visit, they will often labor-sit personally rather than delegate this to a labor nurse, and they use minimal technology in the birthing process. If delivering at home, they have access to hospitals and all the medical help available; they just don't use it unless the situation clearly requires it. Midwives rely on constant support, watchful waiting, well tended low-risk pregnancies, and good backup to assure safe births.</p><p>Choose a family doctor and you get a birth in the hospital, attended by a physician. Most family physicians care for low- to medium-risk pregnancies, preferring to call in an obstetric specialist if the situation becomes too medically risky. While some family physicians have Caesarean privileges and can operate if needed, their focus is on nonsurgical deliveries. With a family doctor, you have access to all the medical technology in the hospital, including continuous fetal heart monitors, IV medications, epidurals and delivery assists. Because all of these are so readily available, you may be more likely to be given any one or all of these choices during your birth.</p><p>Choose an obstetric specialist and you get a hospital birth, attended by a doctor who is also a surgeon. Your prenatal care and childbirth experience will be shaped by statistically proven protocols, and technology will definitely be a part of your birth experience. A surgeon is very comfortable with operations and protocols and so may be more likely to consider intervention earlier and more often to assure a safe birth.</p><p>The choice of hospital also affects birth style; different hospitals have different attitudes about birth. A hospital that works primarily with specialists is likely to have a staff that is more comfortable with interventional births and the support of technology. Hospitals staffed by family physicians may be less likely to interfere with a low-risk birth, or one that may not be following the statistical expectations but still appears to be safe. Your chosen health care provider (or their on-call partner) may arrive just in time for the delivery, so while you are in labor, the style of care is strongly influenced by the culture in that particular hospital.</p><p>The goal of a satisfying birth is that it be safe, with a healthy outcome. It is most important to know your personal preferences: What will make you and your partner feel safe and cared for during this life transition? Make choices that are informed, choices that allow you to have a healthy childbirth experience, and you should have a wonderful birth story to share with your children and grandchildren someday.</p>