Once you hit your second trimester, it’s about time you figure out how you want your childbirth to go about. There are so many options for labor and delivery, so it’s best to plan ahead. Having a birth plan is like having a personal wish list for how you would want your birthing experience to be.
Imagine your birth plan as a map or a guideline. It lets you lay down your preferences from pain management during labor, postpartum care, and afterbirth newborn procedures. And although you’ll have a chosen path to get you to healthy childbirth, be reminded that there may be detours along the way. With a birth plan ready, you can consider and communicate all your birthing preferences!
Here’s a step by step guide to making a birth plan:
Step 1: Create a Birth Plan Checklist
Birth plans differ from one another. Some cover the bare minimum, while some prefer to make it very detailed. However, it may be helpful to consider including these on your birth plan:
- Requests before birth
- Request during labor and childbirth
- Preferences for delivery (vaginal vs C-section)
- Request for newborn care
Step 2: Research On Your Options
Requests Before Birth
Figure out the kind of environment you would want to have before giving birth. You can list your desires, but do understand that not all of your choices might be allowed. Think about the following:
- Who do you want to present during labor and delivery?
- Eating or drinking during active labor
- Music and lighting
- Items you want to bring from home
- Allowing pictures or videos
- Equipment that you may want to try (exercise ball, in-room shower, birthing tubs)
- Birthing positions
Request During Labor and Childbirth
Be clear about how you want your labor to go, how pain should be managed, and which labor procedures you feel most comfortable with. Research on the following:
- Type of birth you are planning
- Use of pain medications like an epidural
- Alternatives to pain medications
- Having an external vs internal electronic fetal monitoring
- Using IV fluids or catheters
- Using labor inducing medications like oxytocin
- Your doctor’s views on episiotomies vs natural tearing
- Use of interventions like forceps or vacuum extraction to assist childbirth
Requests For Newborn Care
The moments shared after giving birth can be priceless. Work your way through recovery by considering the following issues:
- Special request around suctioning (eg. suctioning by the father)
- Skin to skin contact right after delivery
- Delaying first baths
- Plans for breastfeeding
- Cutting the cord and cord blood banking
- Partner’s involvement (eg. catching the baby or cutting the cord)
- Postponing weight and administering eyedrops with the baby until after mom-and-baby contact.
- Special requests with your placenta
Doing your own personal research will help educate you about your birthing choices. However, always consult and discuss with your ob-gyn, doula, or other health professional about the pros and cons of your options.
Step 3: Write Your Birth Plan
Now that you’ve done your research, it’s time to put it all into paper! Here are some tips to keep in mind while writing your birth plan:
- Keep it simple. Birth plans don’t need to be complicated and exhaustive. Make it short and sweet (about one page). Better yet, write it in bullet points or lists!
- Highlight keywords and preferences. This helps your birthing team to view your options quickly in the birth plan.
- Finalize it with your doctor. Before printing out copies, make sure you’ve already discussed your preferences with your doctor.
At the end of the day, birth plans are there to guide you and your birthing team. It may or may not be followed on the day of the delivery, but it’s always good to be prepared!
