Choosing the best care for mother and baby

Finding the right doctor is essential to having a positive birthing experience

Congrats—you’re expecting! The thrill of finding out you are pregnant is followed by some big considerations, not the least of which is choosing the right doctor to follow you through pregnancy and delivery.

Where do you begin when choosing a doctor?

“It is important to know what you want for your birth prior to going into a meeting with an OB/GYN,” says Kristin Fannin, a licensed doula.

Start considering whether you want a natural birth and what kind of pain management you might desire. How badly do you want to avoid a cesarean? Once you’ve established some basic ideas, get the doctors’ thoughts on interventions during birth. Have them explain their philosophies about when to induce, how they work to avoid unnecessary cesareans, their attitudes toward pain management and whether they will let you labor at home if your water breaks. And even if this is your first birth, it’s always important to ask doctors their thoughts on vaginal births after cesareans, too.

While these are very meaningful considerations, Mary Pope, owner of Oh Baby! KC, suggests keeping these thoughts in perspective. “The interventions that happen during your birth are less important than how you are made to feel,” Pope says. If your doctor does not hear, care or understand you, think about switching providers.

“Usually you start seeing an OB/GYN pretty early in the pregnancy, so there is always time to switch if you end up not liking the one you started with,” Lee’s Summit mom Susan Fields says. “The best way to get to know them is through conversation at the appointment. I think it’s important they respect your decisions on various issues like epidural/no epidural, pain meds and breastfeeding versus formula.”

If you already know you will be considered a high-risk pregnancy, ask how much experience the doctor has with the specific issue you are facing. The doctor with the best outcomes for your condition is certainly something to keep in mind.

In addition to these considerations, know that the doctor you choose might not be the doctor who ends up delivering your baby. On-call rotations vary, and babies are unpredictable. Your preferred doctor may not be on duty when you go into labor, so make sure you’re comfortable with the other doctors in the practice. To this end, Fannin suggests requesting that one of the other doctors in the practice sit in on an appointment with your preferred doctor, so you have a chance to meet someone else who might deliver.

Also, establish how available your doctor will be for appointments and whether and how providers in the same practice communicate with each other if you happen to see a number of them throughout your pregnancy.

Kansas City mom Mei McCamman did not do much research when choosing her doctor, and during her pregnancy she went to a practice that makes use of many medical residents. Her doctor was often not available, and she found communication between the different providers to be low. “There wasn’t continuity of care,” McCamman says. “That was something I desired, and it didn’t seem all the pieces were together with that.”  

Take time to learn about the hospital’s policies. What is the birthing wing like? Can you request a tour of it? What is the process to request an epidural, and when does the decision for an epidural need to be made? Does the hospital offer tubs to labor in? If so, do you have to reserve one? How much freedom will you have to move about and change positions during labor? Do they allow eating and drinking during labor? Fannin recommends requesting statistics from the hospital on their cesarean rate so you know how likely that outcome might be for you.

Because the hospital where you deliver is so important and you can never truly know who will deliver, Fannin suggests first deciding on which hospital you want to deliver at, then narrowing it down to a specific provider from there.

Hiring a doula to help you navigate through labor, delivery and postpartum is another option. During pregnancy, doulas help educate moms on all their options and advocate when necessary. They also provide emotional support during the delivery, as well as postpartum services.

Ultimately, remember it’s your birthing experience and you are in control.

“Your provider works for you,” McCamman says. “If you are not happy, go find another opinion. It’s your pregnancy experience. You should feel 100 percent comfortable and love who is going to deliver your baby.”

Fannin echoes this idea and encourages moms to be ready to explore options if necessary. She stresses there are no dumb questions. “If you don’t feel you can ask a provider a very vulnerable, unorthodox question, then you can’t be with them,” Fannin says.

Deciding on a practitioner, step-by-step

• Make a list of possible doctors and hospitals covered by your insurance.
• Ask around and see what other moms have experienced with these doctors and hospitals.
• Research hospital policies and get a good idea of where you want to deliver.
• Inquire about all the doctors at the practice you are considering.
• Evaluate how you are made to feel during your appointments and switch doctors if you are not pleased.

Allison Gibeson is a Lee’s Summit writer and mom.

As always, please consult your health care provider with any questions or concerns.