Choosing a birth partner

Having someone you know and trust with you during the birth can significantly improve your experience of labour. Your birth partner can be someone you know and trust, like your partner, mother or close friend, or a doula. Their main role is to give you support, and help you make any decisions during labour and birth, especially if things don’t go quite as expected. They can also provide a comforting source of reassurance and practical help throughout your pregnancy.

During labour, your birth partner should be prepared to:

• Act as your prompter – reminding you to move around and use the breathing techniques you learned at antenatal classes or yoga – and do whatever makes you comfortable.
• Be your communicator – making sure you are aware of any interventions that might be needed and speaking up for you if necessary.
• Be flexible – knowing that anything could happen and being supportive of any new choices you have to make.

Many women choose their baby’s father as their birthing partner, but you can choose anyone you trust – your mum, sister, a close friend, or even a doula.

A doula offers emotional and practical support before, during and after you’ve had your baby. They can act as your birth partner or as an extra help to both you and the baby. They can accompany you in the hospital or be present at your home if you’ve chosen to have a home birth. However, their job isn’t to replace a midwife. Doulas are trained and experienced in childbirth and their primary role is to enable you to have the most satisfying and empowered experience possible. They provide continual care and objective advice while keeping both you and your birth partner focused on your birth plan.

You can find out more about the philosophy and service of doulas, and search for one in your area at doula.org.uk

During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it may help to have a backup birthing partner, as the current guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists² is that if your birth partner is experiencing coronavirus symptoms, they will not be allowed to go into the hospital with you. You can find out more about this and about giving birth alone here.

During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, rules around social distancing and the number of people permitted into hospitals are affecting standard protocol. Hospitals are doing everything they can to accommodate your needs and it’s worth checking with your midwife unit, but at the moment, only one birth partner is advised. Your chosen birth partner must not be experiencing any symptoms of coronavirus or have experienced any in the past seven days³.

If you require a caesarean section, and it’s carried out under spinal or epidural anaesthetic, the clinical staff will do everything they can to make sure your birth partner is able to stay with you in the theatre. However, if you require general anaesthetic (where you’re put to sleep), your birth partner will not be able to stay with you in the theatre⁴. It’s worth noting that this is for safety reasons and would be the case with or without the outbreak of coronavirus.  

You can find out more about how coronavirus might affect your birthing partner here.