60 Tips for Healthy Birth - Part 4: Avoid Interventions that Are Not Medically Necessary

We've updated one of our most favorite series -- 10 tips for each of the Lamaze Healthy Birth Practices, guidelines based on years of research that help you approach birth informed and with more confidence. Be sure to read through each of the six posts -- 60 tips in all for a better, safer, healthier birth experience! 

10 Ways to Avoid Interventions that Are Not Medically Necessary

1. Learn why avoiding interventions that are not medically necessary is important for you and your baby.

2. Ask your midwife, doctor, or OB as early in your prenatal care as possible about the most common types of interventions used in their practice and the reasons are they used. You can also ask about their rates of interventions (like induction, cesarean), but you might get more traction with open-ended questions, like, "For what reasons would you recommend an induction?" and "Why would I need a cesarean?"

3. Take a quality childbirth education class to fully understand common and uncommon medical interventions used during childbirth, including risks and benefits, and how one intervention often leads to others. For example, when you are induced, you will also be required to have continuous external fetal monitoring and IV fluids.

4. Learn about the rates of interventions at the hospital where you plan to give birth. Sometimes, those rates are available publicly with a quick Google search, but often they are more difficult to find. You can also ask during your hospital tour or call the hospital directly. Local doulas and childbirth educators will most certainly have inside knowledge about local hospitals. 

5. Research and practice a variety of coping and comfort measures, as well as position changes, to use during your labor and birth.

6. Consider hiring a doula, a trained labor and birth support professional. A doula is well trained on the use of interventions and can offer additional information and resources to help you make the informed decision about your care. A doula does not advocate on your behalf, but helps you be a better advocate for yourself.

7. If you arrive at 40 weeks with little to no sign of labor, remind yourself that 40 weeks is not a deadline, but an estimate. A healthy pregnancy can go to 42 weeks. You will not, in fact, be pregnant forever. As uncomfortable as you might be, the safest choice in most cases is to let labor begin on its own.

8. Learn why an induction might be medically necessary and when it is not. If your care provides suggests induction, find out why. Then, ask about your Bishop's Score.

9. Make sure your partner or birth support person (spouse, partner, friend, family member) knows about your birth preferences and understands how best to support you during birth. Your birth partner will be an invaluable asset to your birth experience, including reducing unnecessary interventions.

10. Interventions can be medically necessary and life-saving. If interventions become necessary, find out how you can keep your labor as healthy as possible.