Building Your Birth Team

Summary: If you are pregnant, thinking about starting a family or even postpartum, use this guide to help you create your ideal birth team so that you can be best supported throughout the motherhood transition. 

During pregnancy and postartum you will want to build a team around you that supports you throughout your transition into motherhood. Use this as a guide as you begin building your birth team. 

When you start building your birth team there are a few things you should think about:

• What do you want your experience to look like?
• What do you want it to feel like?
• And how do you want to be supported?

Below is my list of the top 8 providers that you may want to consider having on your birth team. These providers may not be necessary for every pregnancy, but it can be helpful to have a list of providers in mind for when you might need them.

If you’re struggling postpartum or having pain during pregnancy, that may not be the time you want to start researching “who can help me?”. Instead, have your team in mind so you are ready and supported from pre-conception through postpartum.

1. Health Care Provider: OBGYN and/or Midwife

When searching for your health care provider you want to make sure that it is a provider that you trust. Every provider has a philosophy about pregnancy and giving birth and you want to make sure that their way of practice matches what you are looking for.

Don’t be afraid to ask the big questions and consider things like:

• where you want to deliver (e.g. your home, at a hospital)
• how would they approach a VBAC if this applies to you
• how they manage a breach pregnancy
• are they supportive of a natural childbirth, etc.

Although it may feel like you have to, don’t pick the first provider you find because they’re convenient, or are in-network with your insurance plan. You interact with your health care provider a lot throughout pregnancy and you want to make sure they’re a good fit for you and your baby.

2. Birth Doula

A doula is a trained professional that provides physical, emotional, educational support during and throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Doula’s play a significant role in helping you have a safe, memorable, and empowering birth experience.

According to the National Institute of Health, mothers who use a birth doula are less likely to have a baby with low birth weight, are less likely to experience birth complications for both mother and baby, and more likely to initiate breastfeeding.

Having a doula on your birth team brings many benefits to your pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum experience. 

3. Chiropractor

As your body prepares for pregnancy, carries a baby, and eventually delivers the baby, it is incredibly important to have your spine, pelvis and, the nervous system supported.

Lets address the spine + pelvis first:

1. When you’re pregnant your body constantly undergoes changes as your ligaments get looser, your pelvis opens up and the shape of your spine changes to make room for your growing baby. Chiropractors work to make sure that your spine and pelvis remain balanced giving the baby optimal room to grow in and helps you manage and prevent symptoms like pain, headaches, numbness, and more. Chiropractors trained in Webster Technique can also assess for intra-uterine constraint to help manage breech babies and encourage the baby to be in an optimal position for birth.

Nervous system:

1. Chiropractors also help with keeping the nervous system balanced. Having a balanced nervous system is essential for a healthy pregnancy and delivery. Look for a neurologically based chiropractor who will assess the stress of your nervous system, and keep you not only moving well but keep your brain talking to your body and your baby to prepare you and your baby for delivery.

To learn more about Rise Chiropractic & Nutrition services throughout the motherhood transition, click here. 

• International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA)
• Birthfit

4. Acupuncturist

Acupuncture is a type of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which is believed to stimulate the central nervous system by targeting different points throughout the body. When looking for an acupuncturist, look for a provider who has experience working with women’s health. Acupuncture can be a tool that is very helpful at minimizing heartburn, nausea, and other pregnancy-related symptoms. It can also help to support your overall health and wellness throughout pregnancy and postpartum.

5. Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist

Using a pelvic floor physical therapist to help you prepare for delivery and helping your pelvic floor recover after delivery is essential (even if you have a c-section). Consulting a pelvic floor PT can help you with things such as pain with sex, prolapse, leaking urine, and more. A lot of women go through life thinking there are no solutions to these problems but seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist for a thorough evaluation can be an extremely helpful resource.

6. Bodywork

As the body changes throughout pregnancy, it can be very helpful to work with a massage therapist who is familiar with prenatal massage. Massage therapy can help reduce muscle tension and more. Look for a massage therapist that is familiar with postpartum healing, belly and breast massage, and as an extra consideration look to see if they are Functional Range Certified. Getting bodywork done isn’t necessarily meant to be relaxing, but it can provide huge benefits to your body.

7. Postpartum Doula and/or Lactation Consultant

A postpartum doula can be incredibly helpful in creating a smooth transition for you after the birth of your baby by helping you take care of odds and ends around the house such as cooking, chores, postpartum healing, breastfeeding, and more. (NOTE: Postpartum Doulas are not Maids! They just help take care of new mamas!)

The first 4-6 weeks postpartum are meant to be a time for you to heal and bond with your baby. Meaning the odds and ends around your house should be on the back-burner, if you even do them at all. This is why having a postpartum doula can be very helpful.

If you choose not to have a postpartum doula on your team, make sure you have a lactation consultant to work with. Whether or not you chose to breastfeed, having someone to help you get your baby to latch, helping you with pumping, and assessing for tongue tie if needed can be very helpful and take a lot of stress of your plate.

8. Coach

Part 1: Physical coach/ Strength trainer.

• There isn’t a lot of research out there on pregnancy, but the one thing we do know is that exercising during pregnancy is not only safe but advised. Working with a trainer can help you remain healthy and strong throughout pregnancy and help you regain your strength postpartum.

Part 2: Emotional/ Psychological coaching

• Being pregnant and having a baby can often flip your life upside down. With so many changes it is important to have support when you need it. There are lots of coaching groups, mom groups, and more that are available to you and I encourage you to explore them.
• In addition, postpartum anxiety and postpartum depression are very common, so having a provider you trust to work with, should you need them, can be very helpful.

When you’re building your birth team remember that your team should be there to support your pregnancy and birth. There are not right or wrong teams, it’s a matter of what works for you and your baby.

Spend time reflecting on how you want to be supported and what you want your experience to be like so you can build the best team for you and your family.

While this isn’t an exhaustive list of birth-workers, I hope this gives you some ideas of what type of practitioners to consider when you start building your birth team.