It’s simplest to summarize here with a table:

To learn more, head over to my blog post What Makes Midwives and OBGYNS So Different.

*Where a midwife works depends on the type of midwife she is and her personal preferences. Check out So You Want a Midwife…What Kind? to learn about the different types of midwives.

The cost of hiring a midwife varies, but you can generally expect to pay somewhere between $3,000 and $7,000 (in the US). The cost will depend on where you live, how much experience your midwife has, what kind of midwife you hire, and where you give birth.

Usually, a midwife’s fee will include prenatal care, her attendance at your birth, and a few appointments postpartum for both you and your baby.

It won’t usually include fees for ultrasounds or lab work, the fee for where you give birth (if a hospital or a birth center), a birth pool rental, supplies for the birth (if at home), etc.

For more details on what is included and what’s not and for costs broken down, check out How Much Do Midwives Cost?.

Put simply, a birth doula is a person, usually a woman, who supports women during labor in a non-medical way.

More broadly, a doula provides support to parents during late pregnancy, labor and birth, and early postpartum. Her goal is 1) to help you and your husband or partner prepare physically and emotionally for birth, with an emphasis on education and 2) to help labor go as smoothly as possible for you.

A doula is not medically trained but rather is more like a friend to help you navigate the experience of giving birth.

To learn more about doulas and the benefits of hiring one, go to What is a Doula and How Can They Make Your Birth Better?.

Chances are, no, your baby will not come on his or her due date. Only about 4% of babies come on their due dates. That’s because of a few different things.

First, babies in the womb, like children, develop and grow at different rates. So while we have averages, your baby may be bigger or smaller, or grow faster or slower, than “average.”

Second, our typical estimation for due dates isn’t very accurate. It’s called Naegele’s Rule and it has a few big holes in its reasoning.

If you want a more accurate due date, you can get an early ultrasound (before 20 weeks) or use Nichol’s Rule for your calculation.

To learn more, check out Is Your Due Date Wrong? Here’s How to Make it More Accurate.

Yes! Exercising during pregnancy has loads of benefits for both you and your baby.

Most exercises you did before you got pregnant you can still do during pregnancy, even running, in most cases! Other than during the first trimester when I felt sick, I exercised in almost exactly the same way as I did before getting pregnant.

I went on runs and I kept using my favorite online studio for workouts.

To read about my favorite sources for pregnancy workouts and the benefits of exercising during pregnancy, check out The Best At-Home Pregnancy Workouts.

Note: Generally, the biggest change you’ll need to make to exercise while pregnant has to do with ab work. Because your growing belly is putting so much pressure on your abs already, things that increase that load on your abs can cause diastasis recti, which you can learn about in What is Diastasis Recti? (and What You Can Do To Avoid It).

No. And yes. No—you don’t want to start any kind of restrictive diet (like paleo or vegan) while pregnant. But yes—you do need to make sure you’re getting specific nutrients and enough of them.

And yes–there are *some* things you’ll want to avoid or minimize.

The easiest way to know you’re eating what you and your baby need is to follow The Brewer Pregnancy Diet. It’s not a “diet” as you think of it; it’s really just a guide that tells you what you and your baby need and provides an easy way to make sure you’re getting enough.

In The Brewer Diet: What, Why, and How (+ free checklist), I explain everything you need to know about the Diet and provide a free checklist you can download and print off to track what you’re eating.

And while you’re thinking about your pregnancy diet, you’ll also want to check out Why “What Not To Eat While Pregnant” is the Wrong Question so you can stop stressing about all those ridiculous lists of “foods to avoid while pregnant.”

If you’ve learned much about nutrition during pregnancy, you probably know that protein is VITAL to a healthy pregnancy. The great part is it’s easier than you probably think to get enough every day, once you know the tricks.

My first tip is to eat something with protein every time you eat anything. If your snacks and every meal have protein, it’ll add up quickly.

Second, check out my blog post about how to get enough protein for 5 ways to get more protein in your diet (with recipes and snack ideas included!).

Go to Labor and Birth FAQs.

Go to Postpartum FAQs.