In addition to medical staff, here’s who you can have with you

Published: May 10, 2018 | Updated: June 12, 2019

When you’re expecting a baby, you have lots of decisions to make. Do you want to see a doctor or a midwife? Do you want to use nitrous oxide? What about a labor tub? And, of course, how will delivery day go?

Knowing who can and will be in the delivery room can help you make birth plan choices that are right for you.

Who will be in the delivery room with me?

• Labor and delivery nurse. A labor and delivery nurse will monitor you and baby, and provide support. He or she will communicate to your provider about how your labor progresses and monitor the baby as you dilate. You may have the same nurse during the entirety of your labor, or you may have a few different nurses monitoring you over a period of time.
• Anesthesiologist. An anesthesiologist may be present to give medicines should you decide you want help managing pain during labor (for example, an epidural, spinal block or other medications). Norton Healthcare has the region’s only anesthesiologists dedicated exclusively to obstetrics.
• Doctor, midwife, OB/GYN hospitalist. Once you’re ready, a medical staff person will be there to deliver your baby. This may or may not be the OB/GYN or midwife you’ve been seeing during your pregnancy. It will depend on whether your practice rotates on-call providers, or other factors. Norton Healthcare has an OB/GYN hospitalist program staffed by hospital-based doctors who provide inpatient and emergency care for women in labor and delivery. OB/GYN hospitalists can examine you, evaluate the progress of your labor, review test results, monitor your baby’s heart rate, deliver your baby and address any unforeseen issues that may arise.
• OB technician. An OB tech may come into the room just before delivery to set up for the doctor or midwife. He or she also may assist the doctor or midwife.

Who can I have in the delivery room with me?

When family and friends hear that baby is on the way, they may want to rush to the hospital to be by your side. However, who you have in the delivery room is 100 percent your decision.

Many hospital systems, including Norton Healthcare, allow two people in addition to mom-to-be. Others may leave it up to the provider. A two-person limit can help you set boundaries should you want your delivery to be private and more intimate.

Your two people can be a partner, parents, siblings or friends. Some women choose to have a doula in the delivery room. Doulas often are confused with midwives; a doula is much like a coach, offering labor support. A doula does not have the medical training or the responsibility to deliver the baby. Norton Healthcare welcomes doulas in the delivery room.