Choose Your Team Wisely: Build Your Dream Birth Team

Planning for your baby’s arrival is about more than picking the perfect crib or settling on a name. One of the most impactful decisions you’ll make in pregnancy is choosing who supports you through birth—and where that birth takes place. These choices don’t just influence your labor experience; they can shape your entire postpartum period and set the tone for how breastfeeding begins.

Because here’s the truth: how you are supported during your birth makes a huge impact on the start of your breastfeeding journey.

Choosing a Provider Who Supports Your Goals

One of the first (and most important) steps is choosing a provider whose values align with yours. Whether that’s an OB, a certified nurse midwife, or another type of birth professional, it’s worth asking yourself: Does this person listen to me? Respect my choices? Support evidence-based practices?

If your provider isn’t more excited than you are about things like skin-to-skin contact, delayed cord clamping, and physiologic birth, that’s a sign it might be time to keep looking. These early moments after birth aren’t just sweet—they’re biologically powerful. Immediate skin-to-skin helps regulate baby’s temperature, heart rate, and blood sugar, and it triggers your baby’s natural reflexes to find the breast and latch. Delayed cord clamping allows baby to receive additional blood volume from the placenta, offering iron stores and a smoother cardiovascular transition.

These practices aren’t just “nice if you can get them”—they are the foundation of breastfeeding success in the early hours and days postpartum.

Midwives, OBs, and Collaborative Care

You might be surprised to learn that even high-risk pregnancies can often still benefit from midwifery care. Many midwives work in collaboration with OBs, offering a supportive, holistic approach to care that’s fully integrated with medical oversight when needed. This means you can still access the benefits of midwifery care—even if you're delivering in a hospital setting or have certain risk factors.

Midwives tend to prioritize undisturbed birth, informed consent, and parent-led decisions—values that align beautifully with breastfeeding goals. And midwifery care is available across all birth settings: hospitals, birth centers, and home births. So whether you’re hoping for a water birth in your living room or a supportive vaginal birth in a hospital, midwives can be an incredible part of your care team.

Where You Birth Matters Too

The setting you choose for your birth can also influence how those first minutes and hours unfold. In a home birth or birth center setting, uninterrupted bonding, skin-to-skin, and delayed interventions are often the norm. In some hospitals, these practices are also well-supported—but in others, you may need to advocate more firmly to protect that golden hour.

Ask your provider and the birth location about their policies and typical routines. Are babies routinely separated from parents for assessments? Is skin-to-skin done immediately and uninterrupted? Can you labor and deliver in positions that feel best to you? These are more than just details—they shape your first interactions with your baby and influence the start of your feeding relationship.

The Power of Doula Support

Adding a doula to your team is one of the most powerful ways to enhance your birth and protect your breastfeeding goals. A doula is your dedicated support person—someone trained to help you stay calm, confident, and informed throughout labor and delivery.

Research shows that having a doula reduces the likelihood of interventions and cesarean birth, shortens labor, and increases the chance of a spontaneous vaginal delivery. Beyond the physical benefits, doulas support the emotional side of birth. They help you feel seen, respected, and empowered—so you can carry that confidence into the early postpartum days.

And here’s the kicker: mothers who have doula support are more likely to initiate breastfeeding—and stick with it. Among all birthing people, around 80% initiate breastfeeding. With doula support, that number jumps to nearly 98%.

Doulas don’t offer medical advice, but they do provide trusted information, emotional steadiness, and powerful advocacy skills. They also connect you with resources—lactation consultants, pelvic floor therapists, support groups—that can make your whole postpartum period feel less isolating and more supported.

Build the Team That Believes in You

Birth is a big deal—and how you're supported through it sets the tone for your parenting journey. Choose care providers and support people who center your voice, encourage your intuition, and walk beside you with evidence-based, compassionate care.

Don’t be afraid to interview multiple providers or ask hard questions. Your instincts matter. If something doesn’t feel right, listen to that. You deserve a birth team that feels like a safe place to land, one that respects your wishes and champions the start you hope for.

💛 Want to talk more about how to set up your birth team and breastfeeding plan? Book a consult—we’ll build your dream team and strategy together, step by step.
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Because birth is just the beginning—and how it begins matters more than most people realize. 💛