doctor have to be there during labor?

[Nefulks]

Does your doctor have to be there when you go into labor ?

[ch_griffin]

No your doctor wont be there for the most part of labor stage 1. But he/she will be there towards the end on stage 1 and throughout stages 2 and 3 of labor. Once stage 3 is complete (birthing the placenta) you are done with labor.

[AnnieBrooke]

No, honey, you will begin labor wherever you are, not at the hospital.  The doctor would only be with you then if he is your friend and the two of you were having lunch or something.  You probably won't even go to the hospital until your contractions are about 3 minutes apart, and then you will still be in labor a long time (unless you are like my hairdresser who only had to labor 2 hours).  The doctor will be off doing C-sections and delivering babies, he is not going to stand there waiting to catch the baby for hours and hours while you labor.  You'll see him or her pretty much in the last half hour before the baby is ready to come out.  

I was checked by every doctor, nurse and who knows, probably the janitor, whenever the shifts changed (I had a long labor).  You will have medical personnel coming in and out, but the basic monitoring of a normal labor is done by the nurses, midwives and occasionally an intern.