5 Things That Make Childbirth Safer — According to a Childbirth Attorney

I became a childbirth attorney because I wanted to help families after something went wrong. But the longer I've done this work, the more I've come to believe that the most important thing I can do is help families before anything goes wrong.

After reviewing hundreds of birth injury cases — reading fetal monitor strips, deposing nurses and doctors, and sitting with families who are trying to understand the worst day of their lives — I've identified five factors that consistently appear in safer births. None of them require special equipment or unusual circumstances. All of them are within your reach.

1. An Informed, Engaged Parent

The single most consistent factor I see in safer births is a parent who asked questions, understood the answers, and spoke up when something felt off.

This doesn't mean being combative or distrustful of your care team. It means being present. It means knowing your birth plan and having discussed it with your OB before labor. It means understanding what the fetal monitor is showing and what it means when the numbers change.

Knowledge is not a luxury in the delivery room. It is a safety tool.

2. A Provider Who Listens

The flip side of an engaged parent is a provider who actually listens. In the birth injury cases I've reviewed, one of the most common threads is a parent who raised a concern — "something feels wrong," "the baby isn't moving," "I'm in more pain than I expected" — and was dismissed.

When you are interviewing OBs and choosing a hospital, pay attention to how your concerns are received. Does your provider make eye contact? Do they answer your questions directly? Do they explain their reasoning, or do they expect you to simply comply?

A provider who listens during a prenatal appointment is far more likely to listen during labor.

3. Continuous, Attentive Fetal Monitoring

Electronic fetal monitoring exists for one reason: to detect signs of fetal distress before they become emergencies. But a monitor that is running is not the same as a monitor that is being watched.

In many of the cases I've reviewed, the warning signs were there on the strip — late decelerations, variable decelerations, a non-reassuring pattern — but no one acted on them in time.

Ask your hospital about their monitoring protocols. Ask who is responsible for watching the strip and how quickly they respond to concerning patterns. This is not an unreasonable question. It is a critical one.

4. Clear, Timely Communication Between the Care Team

Labor and delivery involves nurses, OBs, anesthesiologists, and sometimes neonatologists — all of whom need to be communicating clearly and in real time. Breakdowns in that communication are a leading cause of preventable birth injuries.

You can't control how your care team communicates with each other. But you can make sure that you are communicating clearly with all of them. Make sure your nurse knows your birth plan. Make sure your OB knows your concerns. If you feel like information is not being shared, ask directly: "Has my doctor been updated on what's happening?"

5. A Hospital With Strong Protocols — and the Staffing to Follow Them

Not all hospitals are created equal when it comes to obstetric care. Nurse-to-patient ratios, C-section response times, and NICU availability vary significantly from facility to facility.

Before you choose where to deliver, ask:

• What is the nurse-to-patient ratio in labor and delivery?
• How quickly can the hospital perform an emergency C-section?
• Is there a neonatologist on site 24 hours a day, or on call?
• What is the hospital's overall C-section rate?

These questions may feel uncomfortable to ask. Ask them anyway. The answers matter.

The Common Thread

If I had to distill everything I've learned from years of birth injury work into a single sentence, it would be this: safer births happen when everyone in the room is paying attention and speaking up.

That includes you.

You are not a passive participant in your labor. You are the most important person in that room. The more you know, the more you engage, and the more you advocate — for yourself and for your baby — the safer your birth is likely to be.

That's why I wrote A Parent's Guide to a Safer Childbirth. And it's why I keep writing.

---

Gina Mundy is a childbirth attorney, #1 bestselling author, and advocate for safer births. Download a free chapter of her book at ginamundy.com.