Congratulations, you're pregnant with your first child. I'll bet you're feeling elated, scared and nervous, all at the same time. Feeling elated over your first pregnancy is a wonderful emotion. Feeling scared and nervous can make you a wreck. But one word can quickly squelch those fears: knowledge.

Knowledge about what to expect, what to do and what not to do can take away those feelings of fear and ease you into this time in your life that should be enjoyed. "I believe that women who are informed and aware of what to expect are more confident and less worried about how their experiences will play out," says Jeannette LeBlanc, a doula at Birthrite Doula Services in Phoenix, Ariz. "Less stress generally equals less pain and a more positive experience."

When Amy Fisher of Minneapolis, Minn., became pregnant with her first child, she attended her first prenatal appointment armed with questions. "I prepared for the meeting by bringing a list of questions I hoped to use to determine what sort of birth experience I was likely to have," she says. "However, during the meeting I started worrying that I wouldn't have the nerve to ask the 50 questions I'd brought with me."

Fisher made it through most of her questions, which helped her make decisions about her health care and the type of medical provider that she wanted. "The caregiver a mother chooses to assist her throughout her pregnancy probably makes a bigger difference than anything else does in how her delivery will go," she says.

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