3. Who do you want present at the birth?
Now this is one situation over which you have a bit more control. First, investigate whether your birthing location has a restriction on the number of people you can have at your birth. Then comes the harder part—telling some family members that they are not amongst the chosen. Every woman is different and some will want many people there for support, while others may choose to go through labor and delivery with just their partner.
4. Where do you want to give birth?
Choosing a setting for your birth is likely the single most important decision you’ll make. When you choose a birthing center or home birth, you are also choosing a birth without official medical supervision, which means that you will only get pain relief and labor augmentation drugs if there is an emergency and you need to be transferred to a hospital. Birth centers employ midwives, doulas, registered nurses and usually have a backup MD and hospital nearby. A hospital birth is attended by RNs and an assortment of doctors: obstetrician, perinatologist, anesthesiologist, etc. The chances of timely medical intervention in a hospital birth are far greater, so bear all of this in mind as you think about your birth plan.
