Feel free to ask the people in the room to introduce themselves. It’s nice to know who is assisting your family and introductions can help you feel like a human being among human beings. In the operating room, you will have two obstetricians, an anesthesiologist, a few surgical nurses, a number of residents or medical students and possibly a pediatrician, or a team of pediatric residents. Getting the names of key players might feel reassuring.
I’ll add that sometimes a cesarean is used as a teaching opportunity for a resident. If you would like your physician to be primary with the surgery, discuss this in advance, and at the time of the birth.
If you have a doula, ask if she can join you. If you have a midwife, she will be a great support.
“We are grateful for this experience and for our healthy and ever-curious Hatuey. We feel strongly that without the support we had in our class and from our doula and midwives that this would have been much more harrowing and possibly even a traumatic experience. It was still challenging – but one that we shared and that had a profound positive effect on all of us.” Rasheed