Questions for Your OB When You’re Pregnant

1. Are you going to be in town for my due date?
   • Is your doctor in a solo practice or a group practice?
2. (If it’s a group practice): Are you on-call all of the time for your patients or are you on-call on certain days and times of the week?
3. Which doctors will be your back-up when you’re not on call?
4. Can I meet the other doctors beforehand?
5. Where do you deliver? What hospitals do you have privileges at?
6. What is your philosophy on birth?
7. What is your cesarean birth rate?
   • What is the practice’s cesarean birth rate? (Just in case your doctor is not the one on-call when you give birth.)
8. What is your episiotomy rate?
   • What is your position on episiotomies?
   • Is this a routine procedure for you?
9. What will you do to reduce my chances of tearing?
10. What positions can I push in?
11. Do you allow your patients to be intermittently monitored and not just continuous if the baby and I are doing well?
12. Can I labor in the tub/shower?
    • Reader Note: You cannot get out of bed when you have an epidural so this would be before you get an epidural or if you plan on having an unmedicated birth.
13. What is your induction rate?
14. How far along in my pregnancy will you allow me to go before I have to be induced?
15. Do you and your practice take patients that are wanting to do VBACs?
    • Reader Note: This is important because if you have a cesarean birth and want to try and have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) for your next baby, you want to know if your doctor will be able to take you as a patient.
16. If you are wanting a natural birth: How do you feel about medicated births vs. unmedicated births?
17. How do you feel about doulas?
    • Reader Note: Doulas help families during natural AND medicated births. If you feel like you want some additional continuous support (because your doctor will hardly be in the room, and you never know who your nurse is going to be), looking into getting a doula is a good thought!

Let me know if there are any other questions that you would add to the list!