Have you ever thought about a natural birth, but didn't know where to turn next?
This is a HUGE decision, and it's impossible to just know what to ask on your own! We are here to help! SoftBums is connected to a wide range of family friendly services, and we've reached out to help you!
Our friends at Minnesota Families for Midwifery have put together a fabulous list of 10 Questions to ask a Midwife!
(These questions can also be used in interviewing ANY Dr, OB, CNMW, or Doula as well. It's better to be informed ladies, as this is a big decision!)
Having
a Baby?
Ten
Questions to Ask
©2000
Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS).
Have
you decided how to have your baby?
The choice is yours!
The choice is yours!
First, you should
learn as much as you can about all your choices. There are many different ways
of caring for a mother and her baby during labor and birth.
Birthing care that is
better and healthier for mothers and babies is called “mother-friendly.” Some
birth places or settings are more mother-friendly than others.
A group of experts in
birthing care came up with this list of 10 things to look for and ask about.
Medical research supports all of these things. These are
also the best ways to be mother-friendly.
also the best ways to be mother-friendly.
When you are deciding
where to have your baby, you'll probably be choosing from different places such
as:
• birth center,
• hospital, or
• home birth service.
Here’s what you
should expect, and ask for, in your birth experience. Be sure to find out how
the people you talk with handle these 10 issues about caring for you and your
baby. You may want to ask the questions below to help you learn more.
1. Ask, “Who can be with me
during labor and birth?”
Mother-friendly birth
centers, hospitals, and home birth services will let a birthing mother decide
whom she wants to have with her during the birth. This includes fathers,
partners, children, other family members, or friends.
They will also let a
birthing mother have with her a person who has special training in helping
women cope with labor and birth. This person is called a doula or labor support
person. She never leaves the birthing mother alone. She encourages her,
comforts her, and helps her understand what’s happening to her.
They will have
midwives as part of their staff so that a birthing mother can have a midwife
with her if she wants to.
2. Ask, “What happens
during a normal labor and birth in your setting?”
If they give mother-friendly care, they will tell you how they
handle every part of the birthing process. For example, how often do they give
the mother a drug to speed up the birth? Or do they let labor and birth usually
happen on its own timing?
They will also tell you how often they do certain procedures. For
example, they will have a record of the percentage of C-sections (Cesarean
births) they do every year. If the number is too high, you’ll want to consider
having your baby in another place or with another doctor or midwife.
Here are some numbers we recommend you ask about.
·
They should not use oxytocin (a drug) to start labor for
more than 1 in 10 women (10%).
·
They should not do an episiotomy (ee-pee-zee-AH-tummy) on
more than 1 in 5 women (20%). They should be trying to bring that number down.
(An episiotomy is a cut in the opening to the vagina to make it larger for
birth. It is not necessary most of the time.)
·
They should not do C-sections on more than 1 in 10 women
(10%) if it’s a community hospital. The rate should be 15% or less in hospitals
which care for many high-risk mothers and babies.
A C-section is a major operation in which a doctor cuts through
the mother’s stomach into her womb and removes the baby through the opening.
Mothers who have had a C-section can often have future babies normally. Look
for a birth place in which 6 out of 10 women (60%) or more of the mothers who
have had C-sections go on to have their other babies through the birth canal.
3. Ask, “How do you allow
for differences in culture and beliefs?”
Mother-friendly birth centers, hospitals, and home birth services
are sensitive to the mother’s culture. They know that mothers and families have
differing beliefs, values, and customs.
For example, you may have a custom that only women may be with you
during labor and birth. Or perhaps your beliefs include a religious ritual to
be done after birth. There are many other examples that may be very important
to you. If the place and the people are mother-friendly, they will support you
in doing what you want to do. Before labor starts tell your doctor or midwife
special things you want.
4. Ask, “Can I walk and move around during
labor?
What position do you suggest for birth?”
What position do you suggest for birth?”
In mother-friendly settings, you can walk around and move about as
you choose during labor. You can choose the positions that are most comfortable
and work best for you during labor and birth. (There may be a medical reason
for you to be in a certain position.) Mother-friendly settings almost never put
a woman flat on her back with her legs up in stirrups for the birth.
5. Ask, “How do you make
sure everything goes smoothly when my nurse, doctor, midwife, or agency need to
work with each other?”
Ask, “Can my doctor or midwife come with me if I have to be moved
to another place during labor? Can you help me find people or agencies in my
community who can help me before and after the baby is born?”
Mother-friendly places and people will have a specific plan for
keeping in touch with the other people who are caring for you. They will talk
to others who give you birth care. They will help you find people or agencies
in your community to help you. For example, they may put you in touch with
someone who can help you with breastfeeding.
6. Ask, “What things do you
normally do to a woman
in labor?”
in labor?”
Experts say some methods of care during labor and birth are better
and healthier for mothers and babies. Medical research shows us which methods
of care are better and healthier. Mother-friendly settings only use methods
that have been proven to be best by scientific evidence.
Sometimes birth centers, hospitals, and home birth services use
methods that are not proven to be best for the mother or the baby. For example,
research has shown it’s usually not helpful to break the bag of waters.
Here is a list of things we recommend you ask about. They do not
help and may hurt healthy mothers and babies. They are not proven to be best
for the mother or baby and are not mother-friendly.
·
They should not keep track of the baby’s heart rate all the
time with a machine (called an electronic fetal monitor). Instead it is best to
have your nurse or midwife listen to the baby's heart from time to time.
·
They should not break your bag of waters early in labor.
·
They should not use an IV (a needle put into your vein to
give you fluids).
·
They should not tell you that you can't eat or drink during
labor.
·
They should not shave you.
·
They should not give you an enema.
A birth center, hospital, or home birth service that does these
things for most of the mothers is not mother-friendly. Remember, these should
not be used without a special medical reason.
7. Ask, “How do you help
mothers stay as comfortable as they can be? Besides drugs, how do you help
mothers relieve the pain of labor?”
The people who care for you should know how to help you cope with
labor. They should know about ways of dealing with your pain that don’t use
drugs. They should suggest such things as changing your position, relaxing in a
warm bath, having a massage and using music. These are called comfort measures.
Comfort measures help you handle
your labor more easily and help you feel more in control. The people who care
for you will not try to persuade you to use a drug for pain unless you need it
to take care of a special medical problem. All drugs affect the baby.
8. Ask, “What if my baby is born early or has special problems?”
Mother-friendly places and people will encourage mothers and
families to touch, hold, breastfeed, and care for their babies as much as they
can. They will encourage this even if your baby is born early or has a medical
problem at birth. (However, there may be a special medical reason you shouldn't
hold and care for your baby.)
9. Ask, “Do you circumcise
baby boys?”
Medical research does not show a need to circumcise baby boys. It
is painful and risky. Mother-friendly birth places discourage circumcision
unless it is for religious reasons.
10. Ask, “How do you
help mothers who want to breastfeed?”
The World Health Organization made this list of ways birth
services support breastfeeding.
·
They tell all pregnant mothers why and how to breastfeed.
·
They help you start breastfeeding within
1 hour after your baby is born.
1 hour after your baby is born.
·
They show you how to breastfeed. And they show you how to keep
your milk coming in even if you have to be away from your baby for work or
other reasons.
·
Newborns should have only breast milk. (However, there may be a
medical reason they cannot have it right away.)
·
They encourage you and the baby to stay together all day and all
night. This is called “rooming-in.”
·
They encourage you to feed your baby whenever he or she wants to
nurse, rather than at certain times.
·
They should not give pacifiers (“dummies” or “soothers”) to
breastfed babies.
·
They encourage you to join a group of mothers who breastfeed. They
tell you how to contact a group near you.
·
They have a written policy on breastfeeding. All the employees
know about and use the ideas in the policy.
·
They teach employees the skills they need to carry out these
steps.
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