When I was twenty four years old and pregnant with my first baby, I thought I knew what pregnancy care looked like. I had my doctor. I went to my appointments. I followed the instructions I was given. I assumed that if there was something important I needed to know, someone would tell me.

But that is not what happened.

While medical providers play an essential role in monitoring the health of both parent and baby, they are only one part of a much larger support system that can exist throughout fertility, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.