How to Select Your Provider and Birthing Location for Your Birth
Hi Mama!
Choosing the right provider and birthing location are two of the most important decisions you’ll make for your birth experience. The provider and location you choose will significantly impact your birth experience, so it's crucial to find someone who aligns with your birth philosophy and your birth preferences, especially if you're aiming for an unmedicated birth, avoiding unnecessary interventions. Let’s dive into how to choose the best provider for you and your desired birth -
Step 1: Understand the Different Types of Providers
Each type of provider offers a different style of care and the birth setting where they work will vary.
OBGYN
Where They Practice: Hospitals; very rarely, home births & birth centers (some have their own private practice and will offer special services for home births and birth centers if mama is having twins or baby is presenting breech.)
What They Are: Medical doctors specialized in pregnancy, birth, & reproductive health.
Role: Handle routine prenatal care, labor, & birth, including high-risk pregnancies & C-sections.
Approach: Often more medical & intervention-based but you can sometimes find OBGYNs who are more natural-minded and holistic and less intervention reliant.
Midwife
Where They Practice: Birth centers, hospitals, or home births
What They Are: Healthcare professionals specialized in supporting low-risk pregnancies & births.
Role: Provide prenatal care, assist during labor & birth, & offer postpartum care; focus on natural, low-intervention births.
Approach: Holistic & personalized; emphasizes supporting the body's natural processes.
Doula
Where They Practice: Birth centers, hospitals, or home births
What They Are: Experienced professionals who provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to expecting couples before, during, and after birth.
Role: Unlike midwives or doctors, they do not perform medical tasks but focus on helping mothers feel more comfortable, confident, and empowered throughout the birthing process. Our biggest goal at Anointed Births is to help each couple achieve their birth goals and birth desires
Approach: Every doula has a different approach. Here at Anointed Births, we take a holistic, approach. Our biggest goal is to educate, empower, and support women in their God-given abilities to birth their babies naturally, avoiding unnecessary interventions that come up in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Labor & Delivery Nurses
Where They Practice: Hospitals
What They Are: Registered nurses (RNs) who specialize in providing care to women during labor, birth, and the immediate postpartum period. They work primarily in hospital settings and are trained to monitor mom and baby’s health throughout labor, assist with delivery, and support the birthing process.
Role: They work primarily in hospital settings and are trained to monitor mom and baby’s health throughout labor, assist with delivery, and support the birthing process. They answer to the provider but their personal experience and approach to birth has an impact on how they relay information to the provider.
Approach: Labor & Delivery nurses often take a clinical approach. Every nurse has his/her own approach when it comes to birth and some will be more comfortable, confident, and experienced with natural births compared to other nurses. Their approach can vary based on the hospital’s protocols and the mother’s birth plan. You can always request a labor and delivery nurse who has more experience with natural births and/or you can request a new nurse at any time if the nurse who is working with you isn’t a good fit for you.
I want to dive into the different types of midwives. Understanding the different types of midwives is crucial because it can significantly impact a woman’s birthing experience. Although midwives generally adopt a holistic and natural approach to birth, their training, licensing, and practice settings can vary, leading to different approaches in care. Just like OBGYNs, not all midwives practice the same.
Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM)
Qualifications: CNMs are registered nurses (RNs) who have completed advanced education in midwifery, usually a master’s or doctorate in nurse-midwifery.
Scope of Practice: They can practice in hospitals, birth centers, and home birth settings, and often work collaboratively with OBGYNs. CNMs can provide comprehensive women’s healthcare, including prenatal, birth, postpartum, and gynecological care. They are authorized to prescribe medications in all 50 states.
Certified Professional Midwife (CPM)
Qualifications: CPMs are trained specifically in out-of-hospital settings such as home births and birth centers. They may have received education through accredited midwifery schools, apprenticeships, or a combination of both. Certification is through the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM).
Scope of Practice: CPMs are experts in low-risk, out-of-hospital births. They focus on holistic, natural birthing practices but their ability to prescribe medications or perform certain procedures can vary by state law.
Licensed Midwife (LM)
Qualifications: LMs are midwives who have obtained licensure specific to the state they practice in. They often have training equivalent to CPMs but must meet state-specific requirements for licensure.
Scope of Practice: Similar to CPMs, LMs typically provide care for home births and birth center births. Licensing allows them to practice legally within the scope defined by state regulations.
OBGYN or Midwife?
Choosing between a midwife and an OBGYN is often a matter of personal preference. If you're seeking a natural birth, midwives can be an excellent choice because they are generally more supportive of natural, intervention-free births. It’s also important to take into consideration your desired birth setting because some providers will only practice in certain settings for birth.
When deciding between what type of midwife: If you’re aiming for a birth with fewer medical interventions, you might prefer a CPM or LM who can support that vision in a home or birth center setting (and don’t forget, CNMs can also practice in a home births and birth centers). If you want the option of pain relief or emergency medical care in your birthing location, a CNM who can deliver in a hospital might be the best choice. Understanding these differences helps you align your birth preferences with the skills and environment that will best support you and your baby.
Step 2: Consider Your Birth Setting
The environment where you give birth plays a significant role in your experience. Think about where you feel most comfortable, safe, and empowered:
Hospital Births and Birthing Suites/Centers Attached To A Hospital: Choose if you want the option of immediate medical intervention but ensure the hospital policies support natural birthing techniques and/or your birth preferences. If you choose a birthing suite/center that’s attached to a hospital, it’s still a hospital and not nearly as close to the feeling of being home or in a free-standing birth center but it could definitely feel better than being in a standard labor and delivery room.
National Average Cost: Before insurance, $10k-$20k (just for the birth, doesn’t include overnight stay)
Free-Standing Birth Centers: These provide a home-like environment and are more able to support natural birth plans. Women usually choose a free-standing birth center if they don’t want to give birth at home but they also don’t want to give birth in a hospital. Maybe they don’t feel like they can fully relax in their home environment due to the size, the people they live with, or the set up. The cost of a birth center might also be better compared to a home birth.
National Average Cost: $4k-$8k, before insurance
Home Births: If you are low-risk and looking for a completely natural experience, this might be your ideal setting. Some women feel more comfortable birthing at home because they feel safe in their home environment and they prefer having a team they trust come to them so it can be more convenient for the birthing mama and family. A lot of women who have other kids also like the idea of not having to leave their kids and inviting their other kids to be part of the birthing experience.
National Average Cost: $2k-$10k (most insurance will not cover for a home birth but some will. It’s worth trying. If your home birth midwife is a CNM, some insurance will help cover costs).
Health Share Ministries help cover the cost of home births and most will cover the entire cost or most of the cost. We are personally signed up with Christian Healthcare Ministry (CHM). We pay roughly $240 per month and we had to sign up 30 days before conception. They covered over 90% of the cost of our home birth. You can check them out HERE!
Step 3: Research and Shortlist Providers
Look for providers who are known to support your specific birthing preferences. I recommend to FIRST come up with your desired birth plan, vision, and preferences THEN look for a provider who will support that.
Read reviews, ask friends and family for recommendations, and/or look for online forums where other mothers share their experiences.
Keep in mind, educational requirements doesn't mean every provider looks at birth the same way and/or that you should immediately trust that provider.
Make sure to review your birth plan with your provider as soon as you hire them and review it again between 35-37 weeks. It’s important to maintain clear communication and expectations.
If you are pursuing a VBAC, actively seek a provider who will encourage and support you. Ask what their VBAC rates are and specific questions that will help you pursue your VBAC.
Step 4: Prepare Questions for Your Provider Interview
Once you have a shortlist, set up consultations to find out more about each provider. Here are detailed, thoughtful questions to ask:
General Questions:
What is your birth philosophy?
What percentage of your clients have some type of intervention in their birth? You may need to clarify interventions (i.e. induction, rupture of membranes, epidurals, Pitocin, c-section, etc.)
What is your stance on medical interventions like epidurals, inductions, episiotomies, cesarean sections, etc.? Meaning, when do you usually recommend these things and why?
How do you support a natural birthing process?
What are your thoughts on me going “over” my due date and why?
What are your thoughts on cord clamping: Do you restrict time? If so, why
How do you go about breech births?
How do you go about twin births?
For Birth Center Midwives:
In addition to the general questions
What are your transfer rates?
What are your reasons for transferring?
How do you go about breech births?
How do you go about twin births?
What things do you do in prenatal care to prevent intervention?
What birthing tools do you have on hand?
How do you go about special circumstances / complications if they arise?
Do you ever have issues with your birth center being full when I’m in labor? How do you go about that?
What are your rates, and what do they include?
For Home Birth Midwives:
In addition to the general questions
What are your transfer rates?
What are your reasons for transferring?
How do you go about breech births?
How do you go about twin births?
What things do you do in prenatal care to prevent intervention?
What do you bring to the birth?
How do you go about special circumstances / complications if they arise?
What are your rates, and what do they include?
Step 5: Consider Compatibility and Connection
Then, reflect:
How do you feel when asking questions?
Do you feel confident and comfortable or anxious and doubtful?
Do you feel respected, heard, and supported or belittled, dismissed, and unsupported?
Do you feel this provider will support your birth plan? Do you trust this provider?
If not, find a new provider; it’s never too late to change providers
You should feel a connection with your provider and have confidence in their ability to support your birth vision.
Red Flags: Things a provider might say that would indicate they’re not supportive:
“We can talk about that down the road” or “I usually have that discussion at ___ weeks.”
"We don’t really allow that here." or “This is hospital policy.”
“I’ve been doing this for years, trust me, I know what's best.”
"I’m okay with trying that, but be prepared that it probably won’t work."
"If you don’t do this, something bad could happen."
Frequently interrupts or doesn’t listen to your questions or concerns.
Any type of dismissive or mocking attitude
Step 6: Select your Provider & Birth Location!
Ultimately, trust your instincts. Choosing the right provider is about more than credentials; it’s about finding someone who genuinely respects and supports your birth desires. If something doesn’t feel right, it’s okay to keep searching until you find a provider who does. Where do you feel safe and who do you feel the safest with?
Happy Birthing!
I hope this guide was valuable and helps you make the absolute best decisions for your birth team and your birthing location. If you need more guidance, feel free to reach out!
Anything stated in this blog is not medical advice.
Stay Tuned…
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