Choosing a Caregiver for Your Pregnancy ::
books, websites, and other helpful resources
Childbirth Connection's Pregnancy Topic on Choosing a Caregiver for Your Pregnancy
We provide in-depth coverage through our Pregnancy Topic to help inform you about choosing a caregiver:- Choosing a Caregiver for Pregnancy Introduction explains the importance of this crucial decision
- Choosing a Caregiver for Pregnancy Options - Midwives, Choosing a Caregiver for Pregnancy Options - Family Physicians and Obstetricians explains the differences between types of midwives and types of physicians, respectively
- Choosing a Caregiver for Pregnancy Best Evidence includes an evidence-based look at the differences between types of maternity caregivers
- Choosing a Caregiver for Pregnancy Tips & Tools includes a list of considerations you should factor before making a decision on what type of caregiver you want
Other Childbirth Connection Resources Relating to Choosing a Caregiver for Your Pregnancy
- Choosing a Birth Setting, an in-depth Pregnancy Topic for help with an important decision that goes hand-in-hand with choosing a caregiver
Learning More About Choosing a Caregiver and Different Types of Caregivers
Deliver My Baby: Here is a short quiz to help you narrow down the type of health care provider that best fits your needs. It will also give you a list of key questions to ask when interviewing potential care providers. The American College of Nurse-Midwives developed this tool.Lamaze International: Why Transparency in Maternity Care Matters: A Fact Sheet: explains why transparency in medical interventions at the provider and facility level is necessary for quality improvements in maternity care.
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The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth (1999), by Henci Goer. (See chapter 12.) Learn more about The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth from Amazon  |
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The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth (1994), by William Sears and Martha Sears. (See chapter 3.) In this helpful resource guide, the Searses cover the gamut of possibilities, and teach readers what they need to know to take control of their own birthings. The Birth Book is divided into three parts: "Preparing for Birth," "Easing Pain in Labor," and "Experiencing Birth." You'll find details about vaginal births; cesareans; VBACs; water births; home births; best birthing positions; drugs; pain; how to design your own birth plan; the humor, chemistry, and sexuality of birth; and pages and pages of birth stories. Chapter 3 is especially relevant to choosing your birth setting. Learn more about The Birth Book from Amazon |
Find a Local Midwife for Your Pregnancy
American College of Nurse-Midwives: Certified Nurse-Midwives and Certified Midwives: an online database from ACNM to identify practices with one or more Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) or Certified Midwives (CMs); with option to search for hospital, in-hospital birth center, out-of-hospital, and home birth practicesBirthPartners.com: Natural Birth Partners: an online directory for locating midwives and many other types of childbirth providers, including midwives who are willing to travel to women
Midwives Alliance of North America: Midwives, (email): to request lists of MANA members in specific states or provinces (MANA members have many different types of credentials)
Midwives practicing in out-of-hospital birth centers: an online directory of birth centers from American Association of Birth Centers
North American Registry of Midwives: Certified Professional Midwives (email): to find Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in your area, call toll-free 888-842-4784 or send an e-mail to info@narm.org
State-by-state midwifery laws and organizations: state-by-state information from Citizens for Midwifery to help you consider options and find midwives
Find a Local Physician Who Provides Maternity Care
American Academy of Family Physicians: Family Physicians: to contact your state's chapter of American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and ask which family physicians in your area offer maternity careAmerican College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: Obstetricians: a directory of ACOG members
American Osteopathic Association: Osteopathic Physicians: a directory of AOA members with information about practice specialty
© 2013 Childbirth Connection. All rights reserved.
Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1918 as Maternity Center Association. Our mission is to improve the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy. Childbirth Connection promotes safe, effective and satisfying evidence-based maternity care and is a voice for the needs and interests of childbearing families.
Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1918 as Maternity Center Association. Our mission is to improve the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy. Childbirth Connection promotes safe, effective and satisfying evidence-based maternity care and is a voice for the needs and interests of childbearing families.
Most recent page update: 9/7/2012