Birth Partners

You can have anyone you like present at your birth! Some people are alone apart from their professional birth team – and others bring the whole whānau and some friends.

It is important that the people that are present for your birth are people you feel safe being vulnerable around. Birth is a very vulnerable time, you may end up wearing less than you anticipated, and you are emotionally raw. If you do not feel safe around those in your birthing space, you may not be able to relax and ‘give in’ to the birthing process, and this can stall your labour.

Your key birth partner(s) – the ones that you most rely on during the birthing process, often your partner or a deeply trusted person – should have a good idea about how the birthing process goes and be there for you to support you through it all. They need to be encouraging, supportive, and advocate for your choices if you cannot.

It is helpful for your key birth partner(s) to attend antenatal classes with you if they have not been a key birth partner at a labour before, and they should come to your birth preferences visit so that they know what is important to you in your birth.

You can decide to have people other than a key birth partner present if you wish, and they can be asked to step out at any time if you want them to, like if you are having a vaginal examination.

If there is anyone you specifically do not want present at your birth, please let your LMC know, and make a plan for if they do turn up.

If you are birthing in a facility, there may be limits on how many people can be in a space, as birthing rooms are not always very spacious.

If you are having a caesarean birth under epidural top up or spinal anaesthetic, you can have one key birth partner with you in the operating theatre. In Palmerston North, they are not required to leave to room while spinal anaesthesia is being administered. This is for both planned caesarean births and emergency caesarean births.

If you have a caesarean birth under general anaesthetic, then your birth partner will not be able to be in the operating room with you, and will be shown where to wait. They may be given care of your baby before you wake up, if baby is well, and may go to the neonatal unit with baby if they are unwell.

In Palmerston North facilities (Palmerston North Hospital and Te Papaioea Birthing Unit), one key support person may stay with the birthing person under the Mahi Tahi (Partners in Care) programme. This person is there to help the birthing person recover and care for their baby. The exception to this is if you are placed in a shared room at Palmerston North Hospital – in this case, your birthing partner will need to leave overnight.

For more information