You just found out that you're going to have a baby. It's an incredibly exciting time, anticipating the new arrival.
But in the midst of all that excitement and anticipation, you have work to do. You need to educate yourself about the birth process well BEFORE your baby is delivered.
The first step is to make sure you select a well-qualified obstetrician, with whom you feel comfortable. A good place to start is by clicking the link on our website entitled: "Checking out Your Healthcare Provider."
At some point before the delivery, you need to sit down with your obstetrician and discuss what could happen if there are complications with the delivery of your baby. It's not the most pleasant subject, but you don't want this to come up for the first time while you're in the middle of labor. You need to ask a number of questions such as:
- Under what circumstances would you recommend an emergency Caesarian Section?
- Approximately what percentage of your babies are delivered by C-Section?
- What are the risks associated with a Caesarian Section?
- Under what circumstances would you deliver a baby by using either forceps or a vacuum extractor?
- What is your experience with assisted vaginal delivery using forceps or vacuum? How many such deliveries do you perform in a year?
- Were you trained more extensively with forceps or vacuum (note that older doctors had more training with forceps, while younger ones trained more on the vacuum extractor, which is newer technology).
- What are the risks to both the mom and baby associated with forceps or vacuum.
You also need to get some of this information from any other doctor, who might deliver your baby, in the event your obstetrician is unavailable.
Remember, the more information you have, the better you will be able to understand what is happening. Plus you will be in a much better position to make important decisions that can affect you and your baby.
