What is a Birth Assistant?
Everyone on your birth team is crucial in determining your birthing experience. With cooperation and teamwork, your birth team can make the experience seamless and memorable.
While your midwife is at the core of your care, behind every great midwife is a birth assistant helping them out.
What is a Birth Assistant?
A birth assistant is a right-hand person to the midwife. As their job title implies, their role is to assist the midwife with whatever help they require during your labor and delivery.
What does a Birth Assistant do?
Prenatal
During prenatal appointments, the birth assistant may help by taking vitals such as blood pressure, weight, etc., before you meet with your midwife.
Labor and Birth
Birth assistants help the midwife during birth and the laboring process. They can monitor the mother and baby closely, maintain charts, report findings to the midwife, etc.
They are trained to watch for warning signs such as bleeding, fetal bradycardia, etc. Birth assistants support the midwife during birth and help ensure safe delivery.
Postpartum
During the postpartum period, birth assistants continue to support the midwife and mother during the initial hours to help monitor and complete examinations.
They ensure the mother has a positive postpartum experience and assist with the discharge process when it’s time.
What is the difference between a Doula and a Birth Assistant?
A doula is a trained professional that helps the mother with her emotional and physical needs before, during, and after labor. Their primary job is to ascertain comfort measures for the mother and help her through whatever she needs during the process.
While a birth assistant can help the mother in certain ways during labor, their primary role is to help the midwife with care provision.
If you have any questions, give us a call!