For the nine months it takes during a pregnancy, the choices that you make during that time can have a big effect on the outcome. Choices ranging from exercise to comfortable shoes to even who you chose as a doctor and where to give birth.

Babies are not just born in hospitals; some people prefer at-home births. The pregnancy process and the actual birth are ranked as  some of the most memorable times in a woman’s life.

Being ready for the process will make the experience all the greater. Two of the first things you will decide about early on in the process are your doctor and birth location. These choices are often decided with your doctor based on your health history, preferences, financial situation and other opinions.

There are 3 main types of care providers. The first is an obstetrician. They are medical doctors who specialize in the management of pregnancy, labor and birth.

They also have received special education on the health of the female reproductive system and surgical care should anything come up where that is needed. Woman will choose an obstetrician for their pregnancy so that just in case any problems come up, they can be handled without too much worry on the mother’s part.

More times than not, the obstetrician will do their patients’ delivery in a hospital setting. The second type of care provider is called a family practitioner. These are your typical family doctors.

They have gone to school for all different fields of medicine in order to be able to handle taking care of an entire family of all ages correctly. For family practitioners though, they normally handle the low risk pregnancies mostly in the hospital but sometimes could be available for at home births as well.

The third type is called midwives. These people are trained and have nursing degrees as well as additional training that is specific for being a midwife. There are however some who do not have a nursing degree but were trained and certified to go straight into being midwives.

As with the family doctor they also will normally only care for low risk pregnancies but they have the flexibility to perform the delivery at home, a birthing center or even a hospital.

There are three main locations that you could plan to have your baby delivered. The first is the obvious one, a hospital.

The advantage to the hospital is having all the technology around you just in case something happens and it is needed as well as all of the doctors and other skilled nurses around to help whenever they are needed. The second option is at a birthing center.

The very first free standing one was opened in 1974. The purpose was to give the women a more relaxed setting in order to give birth. Midwives are the most common you will find at a birthing center.

Some obstetricians even will go to them as well. The birthing center is best for the low risk pregnancies and for a mother who would like to have a birth with as few interventions as possible.

The third common location is to have an at home birth. A lot of women feel more comfortable away from all the technology and people that come with hospitals and birthing centers. The important thing to remember here is that for any family who is wanting to have an at home birth, they need to be very well educated on all the procedures  so that in case anything happens, they can either handle it or will know to get the mother to the hospital as soon as possible.

Again this is a method recommended for low risk pregnancies only. Any women who want no interventions and a family oriented birth experience would be the ones to chose an at home birth.