When you are pregnant, you want to make sure that everything goes well with your pregnancy and that your delivery goes the way that you want to. There are several professionals that you can work with in order to have the experience that you want to have. You can often find all these professionals all working from one place. Even if they aren't in the same set of offices, they generally will work in concert with each other. The professionals that you want to think about are doulas, midwives, and OB/GYNs.
Doulas
A doula is basically a birthing assistant. They will work with the mother to help her decide what she wants her birth experience to look like, and what she wants to happen. The doula will be concerned about the mother's emotional and mental state. They will go to various appointments with the mother and act as an advocate in difficult situations, such as when the mother is in labor and certain things need to happen. Doulas generally don't have medical training but will have undergone some kind of training in order to help the mother.
Midwives
A midwife will have had medical training that is geared toward caring for pregnant women and women giving birth. They tend to be more open to things like home births and are more likely to come to the home so that the woman can give birth in their own space. Midwives may work with a birthing center or they may work with an OB/GYN office. Some midwives, depending on the state, will have admitting privileges at local hospitals so that they can make sure that their patients can get into a hospital if they desire. However, some midwives may have to work with an OB/GYN in a hospital setting.
OB/GYN
An obstetrician/gynecologist is going to have the most medical training. If you may need to have a cesarean section or are dealing with a high-risk pregnancy, the OB is the person to see. A doula can work with the OB to make sure that the woman gets the pregnancy and birth that they want. OB/GYNs will also work with women's reproductive health outside of just pregnancy and birth, which means they can handle continuity of care all through a woman's reproductive years.
If you are pregnant, there are several people you can work with so that you can get the outcome that you desire. Reach out to an obstetric clinic for more information.
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