How to Pick a Birth Provider & What Questions to Ask

Written By Gloria's Bookshop .

Choosing a birth provider is an important decision. In this process, it’s valuable to take your time and ask lots of questions.

Here’s a clear guide to help you understand what your options are, how to choose, and what to ask.

1. Know Your Birth Provider Options

Depending on where you live and your pregnancy needs, common options include:

OB-GYN (Obstetrician-Gynecologist)

  • Medical doctors who specialize in pregnancy and birth

  • Can handle high-risk pregnancies

  • Can perform C-sections and use medical interventions

Good fit if: you want a hospital birth, are a high-risk patient, or have medical complications

Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM)

  • Advanced-practice nurses trained in pregnancy and birth

  • Often work in hospitals or birth centers

  • Focus on low-intervention, supportive care

Good fit if: you want a more natural approach but still want hospital access

Direct-Entry or Licensed Midwife

  • Specializes in low-risk pregnancies

  • Often attend home births or birth center births

  • Not available or regulated in all places

Good fit if: you want a home or birth-center birth and are low-risk

2. Things to Think About When Choosing

Ask yourself:

  • Where do I want to give birth (hospital, birth center, home)?

  • Do I want a more medical or a more natural approach?

  • Do I want the same person at most appointments?

  • Do I feel comfortable talking openly with this provider?

  • Does this provider accept my insurance?

  • Am I willing to go far to get the care I want?

Feeling heard and respected is just as important as credentials.

3. Questions to Ask a Birth Provider

General Care

  • What is the likelihood that you will attend my birth?

  • How do you support the natural hormones that guide labor, birth, breastfeeding, and bonding?

  • What would you say if I gained 50 pounds during pregnancy?

  • What medical treatments or monitoring do you routinely use during labor and birth?

  • How many ultrasounds do you recommend during pregnancy?

  • How do you handle long labor?

  • What is your policy regarding routine interventions, such as electronic fetal monitoring, IV fluids, cervical checks, or Pitocin for managing the third stage of labor?

  • How do you manage the birth of the placenta?

  • Will you honor my right to informed consent?

  • Can I decline cervical checks?

  • How would you handle my care if I went past 41 weeks? 42 weeks?

  • Do you believe the kind of birth I’m hoping for is possible?

  • Do you recommend hiring a doula?

Provider Experience & Care Style

  • How many births do you attend each year?

  • How do you usually support labor and birth?

  • What’s your approach to pain management?

  • How do you feel about birth plans?

  • Do I need to register for my birth?

Interventions

  • What’s your rate of C-sections?

  • When do you recommend induction?

  • How do you handle situations if labor doesn’t go as planned?

  • What medicine, vaccines, eye drops, and testing are offered or required?

Support & Communication

  • Who will be with me during labor?

  • Will you be the one attending my birth?

  • How do I reach you if I have questions or concerns?

  • Do you allow doulas or photographers?

  • Do you allow my husband to be in the room at all times?

  • Do you allow visitors?

  • What if I go past 40 or 42 weeks?

Prenatal Care

  • How often are appointments and ultrasounds?

  • Do you offer CPR, breathing, nutrition, or birthing classes?

  • What should I be eating and how should I be exercising?

  • What options are available for the glucose test?

  • What options are available for GBS prevention?

  • What options are available for a GBS-positive test?

  • Can I get all my vitamin and mineral levels checked to see what I actually need to take?

During Labor & Birth

  • In what circumstances do you do vaginal or cervical checks?

  • In what circumstances do you break the water?

  • In what circumstances would you take out the placenta?

  • Can I move around with the monitor?

  • Is it intermittent or continuous monitoring?

  • Will there be an IV placed?

  • What will the birthing environment be like?

  • Can I bring my own music, flameless candles, aromatherapy, snacks, and clothes, etc?

  • Can I get in the tub or shower?

  • Can I do a water birth?

  • Are there birth balls or other devices to help with labor?

  • How long do you wait to cut the umbilical cord?

  • What measures are taken to prevent tearing?

After Birth

  • In what circumstances do you take the baby out of the room?

  • If the baby needs extra care, where do they go?

  • What support do you provide after delivery?

  • Do you help with feeding (breast or bottle)?

  • What if the baby is unable to breastfeed? What support is provided?

  • How do you screen for postpartum mood changes?

  • How soon does the baby get skin-to-skin contact?

  • Can the placenta be encapsulated?

  • Are meals offered during labor and after birth?

  • How long can we stay?

  • Can my husband stay overnight?

  • How do you handle degrees of tearing?

  • Do you have donor breastmilk?

  • What are the qualifications for donations?

  • Can I keep my baby with me at all times?

  • What procedures are routine for newborn care?

  • What type of support do you offer to breastfeeding moms?

  • How soon can I leave the hospital after birth? What if I want to leave sooner than that?

Homebirth Specific

  • What situations would lead you to transfer my care to an OB during pregnancy?

  • What situations would lead you to transfer me to the hospital during my labor?

  • Do you have a relationship with an OB practice?

  • What is your relationship with hospitals in the area like?

  • What would it look like if I transferred to the hospital during my labor? Would you come with me?

  • What medical equipment do you bring to the birth?

  • How do you handle emergencies?

  • What kind of postpartum visits do you do?

  • If I transfer to the hospital, would you still do my postpartum visits?

Hospital Birth Specific

  • Is there a 24-hour anesthesiologist available?

  • What is the RN-to-patient ratio?

  • Could you please describe the triage process to me?

  • When would you recommend inducing labor?

  • When would you recommend augmenting labor?

  • What are the reasons you would perform a cesarean?

  • How often do you perform cesareans?

  • What do you think makes your cesarean rate so high (if it is), when the WHO recommends keeping that number below 15% of births?

  • How will you help me avoid a cesarean?

  • What percentage of women have an epidural?

  • What are your recommendations for labor positions and pushing positions?

  • How many people can I have in the room with me?

  • Do I have the right to decline any interventions?

  • What do you recommend for non-medical pain-coping relief?

  • How often do you attend non-medicated births?

4. Trust Your Gut

It’s okay to switch providers if:

  • You feel rushed or dismissed

  • Your questions aren’t answered clearly

  • You feel judged or talked down to

You deserve respect, clear explanations, and choice.

Gloria's Bookshop .
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