— I prefer to get introductions out of the way early - while you’re as coherent and relaxed as possible. The earlier we can establish comfort with each other, the better, so the presence of a “stranger” in the room doesn’t stall your labor. Regardless of how much we texted back and forth during your pregnancy to build rapport with each other, it’s natural to be very shy and hesitant when I walk into your delivery space for the first time and say hello.
— Generally you can expect for me to spend at LEAST 4-6 hours at your birth. The births where I arrived after I got a late call that birth was imminent and I missed the birth, I stayed around 4 hours. Longer births I’ve attended, I’ve stayed 12+ hours. Sometimes it’s a long day, and sometimes I’m not going to get there until after baby is already out, because things happened super fast. I prefer to err on the side of caution and come in plenty early for introductions, but this doesn’t mean I’ll be all up in your business that entire time, and especially if you’re more private and reserved.
— This allows me to get to know you and review your preferences with you, capture some candid shots of you and your labor team, your delivery, immediate postpartum care and the newborn exam, and some shots of you, baby, and your labor team in your recovery area, soaking up those precious newborn snuggles and settling in to rest in bed. I am not shooting photos constantly this entire time - there will be plenty of downtime for chit chat, and I love to bring some entertainment with me, in case you’d like to labor mostly privately.
— If you feel comfortable sharing information with me about how your prenatal appointments are going, I love to hear updates in the weeks leading up to your delivery! Especially if you’re dilated more than about 3cm at your prenatal appointments - this can be a sign that when your water breaks, things have a higher chance of going from 0-100 in a moment’s notice. One of my sweet clients was dilated to 5cm for the last few weeks of her pregnancy, and from the time her water broke to when she had baby in her arms was under 10 minutes.
— If you’re getting induced, I’d love an update. When are they asking you to come in? What symptoms are you experiencing that could factor into how quickly you’ll deliver? Are you experiencing complications that increase your risk of a c-section, or having a delivery where things might get a bit crowded with extra support staff? If you’re going in after hours, are they asking you to come in through an alternative entrance to the facility?
— Sure, there’s a chance you could be dilated to 9cm for several hours… but if you wait until your provider is gowning up and putting on gloves to let me know it’s time to come in, I’m almost definitely going to miss it. Especially if my husband has a work meeting that he can’t miss, and someone needs to be available to pick our children up from school. The odds of me making it to your birth increase significantly with every hour of preparation time you give me.
— If you’re considering going into the hospital, even if you think things aren’t really very intense and they’re potentially going to send you home, it’s time to give me a heads up that there’s even a chance that your delivery could be happening soon. It’s okay if contractions are 5-15 minutes apart, or if your previous labors have been very long - as soon as you have a contraction that makes you go “Oop… that might be labor…” I would love to know.
