Support and Help During Labour and Delivery

Featuring Dr. Barra O'Briain, MD
Video Title: Support and Help During Labour and Delivery
Duration: 1 minute, 14 seconds

We often get asked how many people can be in the labor and delivery suite, and trust me, sometimes there's a lot.

The key here is to have someone there who's going to really be supportive and not a spectator. Assisting at birth is not a spectator sport. It's someone who will frog-walk you to the shower, if that's what needs to be done, who you can lean on in support while you're coping with the pain of labor and delivery, and who will just do what is needed to get the job done. So spectators are less welcome and often dismissed.

Some settings it is desirable to have a support person with you, not only during the course of your labor and delivery but afterwards, postpartum, with the baby to assist with your needs and the baby's needs during that 24, 36 or 48 hours that you'll be staying in hospital after you have your baby. That is often expected in some hospital settings.

If women have questions about their experience in hospital or what to expect in hospital, then contact your healthcare provider.

Presenter: Dr. Barra O'Briain, Family Doctor, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Family Doctor