In this episode, Katrina and I spoke about the importance of planning ahead with your surrogacy birth. You might think it's a matter of deciding if the surrogate will have pain relief and who will cut the cord, but surrogacy births are a little more complex. You should plan early and enquire with the hospitals where you might birth about their surrogacy policies and practices. Some things to ask about include:

Whether the hospital has managed a surrogacy birth recently;

Whether the hospital has a surrogacy policy that you can read. If not, you can give them this free hospital surrogacy policy.

Whether the intended parents will be provided with birth education and parent craft support;

How they will support the team with decisions about milk and feeding a surrogacy baby;

Whether both intended parents will be present in theatre in case of a c-section;

Will the intended parents be able to stay in a separate room with the baby; and

Whether the hospital will be able to support the surrogate and baby being discharged from hospital separately if necessary.