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[Adapted from The Expectant Parents' Companion, by Kathleen Huggins. Copyright © 2006, used by permission of The Harvard Common Press.]

Visit the Hospital or Birth Center

On your tour, ask some of these questions:

The Basics

• How many laboring women is each nurse assigned to?
• Are birth plans welcomed?
• How many family members or other people are allowed in the birth room?
• Are professional labor assistants welcome?
• Are photographs permitted?

If You Would Prefer a Natural Birth

• How are contractions and fetal heart tones monitored in labor? (With a Doppler ultrasound stethoscope or with an electronic fetal monitor. If the latter, is the monitoring intermittent, continuous, or by telemetry (wireless monitoring? External or internal?)
• Are women free to move about in labor?
• Is the use of a shower, bathtub, or birthing pool permitted?
• What comfort devices are available, such as a birthing ball or birthing chair?
• Are eating and drinking allowed during labor? (Some hospitals allow women only to suck on ice chips.)

If You are Considering a Medicated Bath

• What choices other than epidural anesthesia are available for pain management?
• Is it possible to have an epidural that is light enough to allow moving in bed?

If You are Planning a Cesarean Birth

• Are support persons welcome in the room during the delivery?

Infant Care After a Vaginal Birth

• Can the mother hold the baby against her skin during the initial evaluation?
• Can weighing, bathing, and routine medications be delayed for the first hour or two?
• Is early breastfeeding encouraged?
• Can the mother's partner bathe the baby?

Infant Care After a Cesarean Birth

• How much contact can the mother have with the baby immediately after the birth?
• Can the partner accompany the baby to the nursery?
• Can the baby be returned to the mother in the recovery room?
• Is early breastfeeding encouraged?

Postpartum Care

• What is a typical hospital stay following a vaginal or cesarean birth? Is it possible to leave the hospital early?
• Are mothers allowed to keep their babies with them around the clock?
• If a baby is in the nursery, is he brought to the mother whenever he seems hungry? Are newborns routinely offered water or formula after nursings or while in the nursery?
• Is a lactation consultant on staff for breastfeeding assistance?
• Has the hospital received or applied for certification as a UNICEF Baby-Friendly Hospital? (This would signify that the hospital's policies promote breastfeeding.)

If you'd like to give birth at home, you'll need a practitioner - probably a midwife - who attends home births, and your pregnancy will have to be low-risk" and healthy.

You'll want to ask the midwife these questions:

• Does she have hospital admitting privileges and a backup physician, in case of emergency?
• Will she provide labor support if you are admitted to the hospital?
• Does she have a backup midwife in case she is unavailable when you go into labor?
• What resuscitative equipment does she bring to the home?