Early stage of labor

• 1). Decide on where you want to give birth: at home, at a hospital or at a birthing center.
  
  
• 2). Decide on what you want to eat and drink during labor.
  
  
• 3). Decide on who are going to be in the delivery room besides your partner: friends or family members, for example.
  
  
• 4). Decide on the atmosphere in the labor room, for instance lighting and music. You may want to bring something from home and wear your own gown instead of a hospital outfit.
  
  
• 5). Decide on whether you want to monitor your fetus all the time or intermittently.
  
  

During delivery

• 1). Decide whether you want to use pain medications. If you want to use pain medication, decide on the type of medication that you prefer. The medication can be given to you as pills or administered intravenously.
  
  
• 2). Decide on delivery position.
  
  
• 3). If you deliver vaginally, decide on whether to have episiotomy.
  
  

Postpartum

• 1). Would you like to hold your baby right after delivery and breastfeed immediately?
  
  
• 2). Who is going to cut the cord? You also need to decide where to store the cord blood. Most people choose to donate the cord blood to a public cord blood bank.
  
  
• 3). Check with your baby's pediatrician to see whether he will be there for the first check-up of your newborn.
  
  
• 4). Ask about your length of stay in the hospital. Most hospitals let you stay two days for vaginal delivery and three days for C-section.