Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider Throughout Pregnancy
Average read time: 5 minutes
Maybe you’re already pregnant, and have decided where to give birth, but want to know more about your chosen OB/GYN or midwife team. Maybe you’re on the hunt for a healthcare provider and birth space that aligns with your values and desires for childbirth.
Whatever you’re looking for, making informed decisions by asking questions is essential to helping you navigate all of the information you’ll get about pregnancy and childbirth. Use the guide below to help create a list of questions to ask as you make these important choices!
As a pregnant person, you’re going to build a relationship with your healthcare provider, whether they are a midwife or an OB/GYN. It’s super important to trust your provider, as trust is the foundation of safety, a feeling you deserve to feel throughout pregnancy and childbirth. Below is a list of questions to ask your provider to help you make the right decision for yourself. I want to name that these are a lot of questions! I recommend choosing 2-3 to ask per visit, and keeping a notebook or a note on your phone to record their responses!
One thing to remember: Everyone is different, and is going to prefer to hear different answers from their healthcare provider. Asking for referrals and references from friends and family is always a good first step; just remember, your body, your pregnancy, your culture and beliefs all matter when making this decision.
Questions to ask your provider:
In the first trimester/when picking your birthplace of choice:
What is your philosophy around birth?
What is the cesarean rate at your practice? How is this different from the hospital’s rate?
What is the epidural rate for your practice? How is this different from the hospital’s rate?
If me and my baby are doing fine, when do you start to recommend inductions? What evidence do you use to support this?
In the 2nd/3rd trimester, or whenever you’re starting to make a plan for your birth:
What supports do you offer for people who are planning an unmedicated labor?
What recommendations do you have about pain medications? What are the risks and benefits of each of those pain medications? (Typically, hospitals offer epidurals, nitrous oxide and narcotics as recommendations for pain management.)
When do you recommend I come to the hospital once my labor has started?
If my water breaks at home and is clear/odorless, when do you recommend I come to the hospital?
What are your policies on eating and drinking throughout labor?
What are your policies around IVs?
What is your protocol if I am GBS positive?
What options do you have for monitoring labor? (Continuous? Intermittent? Telemetry (wireless)?)
Will you support me using different positions for pushing? Are there some that you prefer? Why do you prefer these?
What do you do during pushing to reduce the possibility of tearing?
What is your policy around episiotomies? What is the hospital’s rate of episiotomies?
If I ended up needing a cesarean, who would perform the operation? Who would be allowed in the room with me? Would skin to skin and delayed cord clamping be an option for me and my baby?
Is it possible to complete all newborn assessments while doing skin to skin?
What are your recommendations around vitamin K and erythromycin? Can they be delayed until after the golden hour, or do they need to be done right away?
Do you have an IBCLC on staff? When are they available while I’m in postpartum recovery and still at the hospital?
Questions to ask yourself throughout your pregnancy:
Do I feel like I’m being heard?
Do I feel like I’m being treated with respect?
Am I being supported in making informed decisions?
Do I feel comfortable asking questions, both first time and follow up?
What does my gut say about my healthcare provider?
If you couldn’t already tell, I am a big believer in research! In Chicago, we are lucky to have Birth Guide Chicago. This website has compiled so much information about hosptials and birth spaces around the Chicagoland area. Birth Guide Chicago also has a podcast to help you make the best decision for you about where you give birth!
Looking for help navigating the birthing world in Chicago? I’d love to connect and support! Just click here to send me an email with any questions you have.
Shout out: These lists were adapted from The Power of Birth: Birthing With Awareness by Sue Gottschall and Rebecca Nguyen, and from Cornerstone Birthwork Trainings.
