Choosing Your Birthing Team

Creating your personal birthing team will be crucial for your recovery and support after giving birth. The best part about creating a personal birthing team is that you get to choose who can be on the team. Whether it is your spouse, parent, grandparent, best friend or a coworker you trust, you will need to build a team.

Stronger in Numbers

It is well known that having a social support system before you give birth leads to a better outcome. Women of color often will not have enough social support (reliable friends and family) before giving birth and this makes the idea of a health advocate difficult. A health advocate is someone who is aware of your wants and needs and will be able to speak up for you if you are able to do so. Try using the following test to determine if the person is a good fit to be on your personal birthing team:

Is the person your spouse?
How long have you known the person and how well do you trust them?
Is this person aware of any medical conditions you may have?
Will this person be able to sign any paperwork on your behalf?
How far does this person live from you and will being present when you give birth be an inconvenience for them?
Is the person you are considering dealing with any medical issues themselves that may limit their flexibility of time?

The people you choose do not need to be medically inclined to support you. The idea of your personal birthing team is to provide you with familiar people to support you during childbirth.

Document your permission for team members to ensure HIPAA compliance. If it is not documented that you give permission for your family members, friends or coworkers to discuss your personal health information (PHI), the medical staff can decline to speak with them regarding any health matters. This is especially important if the team you have created does not include any first degree relatives or a spouse.

Wrap-around Care

Wrap-around care is a well known concept in healthcare. In short, wrap-around care focuses on the total patient care and recovery experience beyond the hospital. By building your own personal team in advance of giving birth you are way ahead of the team. Having a personal support team in place before you go to the hospital can also help to reduce your stress and anxiety during this exciting time. The following list will help you maintain organize your group members:

Designate who will be in the room with you when you give birth according to your hospital’s rules.
Designate who will be in your recovery room/postpartum care room.
Designate the person will help you with personal hygiene and bathing once allowed.
Ensure that you split the duties so that your team members will not be overwhelmed during the birthing process.

Lastly, your team members are on the same team as you! Your personal team members are there to cheer you on, be a voice for you if needed, and validate you. If you carefully select your team members and curate their duties, you should be able to greatly reduce your stress level and reap the reward of a sweet little bundle of joy.