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Your hospital care team works with you to provide the birth experience you want while keeping you and your baby safe. Everybody in the delivery room has a specific role, whether it's taking care of you or your baby.
Your birth care team will include:
- Your partner or other chosen support people. (The number of visitors in the room depends on the hospital’s current policy.)
- Your primary health care provider, which could be a nurse-midwife or a clinician and your labor and delivery nurse.
- A nurse for your baby.
- An anesthesia clinician if you need an epidural or other anesthesia, although they usually do not attend the actual birth.
A resident doctor in training, medical student, or midwifery student is sometimes present. If there is any cause for concern, such as fetal distress, there will be more people in the room to assist.
If you need a cesarean birth, you are allowed one support person in the room. Your surgery will be performed by an obstetrician and their assistant. An anesthesia clinician will manage your pain and make sure you are comfortable.
An on-call clinician will be available to attend your birth if there are complications. When you're postpartum, the clinician will perform a newborn exam.
If your birth extends past your care team’s shift, they will inform the next team about your medical history, current condition, and birth preferences. They will work together to make sure you have a positive and safe birth experience.