Health & Pregnancy

Calming Your Labor and Delivery Fears

Labor and Delivery: Fear Your Doctor Will Miss Your Delivery

OK, so you've made it to labor and delivery with time to spare. Now, where's your doctor?  The fear that he or she won't arrive in time is a major one for many women.

Relax -- you're never on your own. First, experts say that most doctors live closer to the hospital than you do, so getting there is almost never a problem.

Most importantly, Wilcox says even if your obstetrician ends up in a horrific traffic jam, you will be far from alone on any labor and delivery floor.

"Every labor floor is attended by dozens of professionals -- from very experienced labor and delivery nurses, to attending physicians, to other obstetricians. So you are definitely entering an environment where the level of professional help is high. And that means you will never actually be alone in this respect," says Wilcox.

Labor and Delivery: Fear of Pooping on the Table

It may not be life-threatening, but many women fear they'll die of embarrassment if what they see as the ultimate labor horror story occurs -- they poop on the delivery table.

While we can't promise this won't happen, Blumberg has some very reassuring advice if it does.

Says Blumberg: "Nobody is happier than me when a woman in labor has a bowel movement, because that almost always means the baby is on the way, that a vaginal delivery is progressing normally, and that I don't have to be concerned about a C-section. It's really a sign that everything is A-OK and if you can just look at it that way, you'll forget about the embarrassment and feel as happy as I do that your baby is about to enter the world."