You start looking for a health care professional to carry you through pregnancy and birth as soon as you get pregnant.  What type of health care professional you need  depends  on a number of factors such as:

• what experience you want
• where you plan to give birth
• whether your pregnancy is normal or high risk
• what your insurance will pay for

Factors to consider before deciding if you need a doctor or midwife

Is your pregnancy high risk ? :  High risk pregnancy is when you have medical condition such as high blood pressure, epilepsy, heart disease, or diabetes, or had certain serious complications in a previous pregnancy. In this case, you will need to see an obstetrician or a doctor who specializes in high risk pregnancy known as maternal- fetal medicine specialist .

If you start out with a midwife and develop any complications or find out you’re having multiples, you will be transferred to a obstetrician or perinatologist.

Do you have a health care provider you are currently seeing and comfortable with  ?:  If you already have a health care professional who provides prenatal care and delivers babies, you may want to stay with them. However if you’re not sure you want to stay with your doctor or want to explore other options, this is the time to look for other options.

Do you want a more individual, less routine approach ?: Midwives see  birth as a normal process and only intervene when necessary. They tend to have more time to  listen to your questions and learn about your physical and emotional changes during your pregnancy . A midwife will help you think about what birth decision you need and support your decision.

However there are some doctors who also engage in specialized care that midwives may not provide. Find out about the practices in your community.

What setting do you want for your delivery ? : If you dont have any pregnancy complications and want to deliver at a home setting, you will have a midwife who will accommodate your wishes.

However if you’re interested in an epidural or worried about something going wrong during labor and delivery, you may want to choose the hospital from the get go.