How to Find the Right Maternity Care Provider for You
Are you exploring your options for your maternity care? There are a lot of questions to ask and things to learn as you go to make sure you find the best fit for you, but here is a quick list for how to go about choosing your care provider when pregnant:
Select your preferred birthplace
The first thing you need to decide is where you want to give birth; whether you want a home birth, a birth center birth, or you want to stick with hospital birth.
If you’re choosing to give birth at home, you have the advantage of being in a familiar space surrounded by things and people that you love. However, you may decide it doesn’t fit with your ideal birth plan since you have to make arrangements for everything at home. Some expecting mothers don’t love the idea of being at home surrounded by the normal clutters of home, while others find being in their space to be the best experience.
With a birthing center, you’re still getting a homelike environment to give birth in. You can choose the setting, the people you want, and how involved you want the staff to be. The upside to choosing a birth center is that you still get regular health checkups and you can always reach out to certified healthcare providers whenever you need to.
With hospital births, you follow a standard protocol of regular checkups, tests, and examinations. Of course, you don’t have the freedom you get at home or birth centers, but you might find that the care the hospital provides is more aligned with your goals for birth.
Schedule an interview/appointment
Once you have decided where you want to give birth, schedule an appointment with them for a tour of the place, ask any questions that you might have, and get an overall feel of the environment before deciding on it.
Make a list of questions/requirements before you go so you don’t miss anything.
Reach out to your community and fellow mothers
Reach out to mothers around you for recommendations and reviews. Sometimes, word-of-mouth is the most reliable way to get to know about a place!
Ask them about their experience with different birthplaces, if they can recommend a particular health provider and why they recommend them, etc.
Find someone that aligns with the birth you envision
Remember, giving birth is a one-of-a-kind transformative life experience! So make sure you are completely satisfied with the choices you make.
It helps to have a vision of what you want during your birth; you might want to make a birth plan. Then, you should make sure whatever place you’re choosing aligns with the particulars of how you want your birth to be!
If you want to learn more about our care at Birthways Family Birth Center or if you have any questions about how to find the right maternity care provider for you, give us a call!