When you’re pregnant, it might feel like everyone else decides for you. Your doctor gives orders for every move you make, and your ever-supportive partner might be extra strict with how you move around and do chores in the house. However, it’s still important to take charge of your pregnancy and delivery, especially when you’re nearing your due date. That’s why creating a birth plan you’re comfortable with is essential when preparing for labor.

A birth plan records all your preferences for what happens during and immediately after you give birth. Having this plan in place allows your voice to be heard. That way, your birthing team will know exactly what to do for you, even when you’re in too much pain to make quick decisions. It might sound overwhelming to create a birth plan from scratch, but with the support of your partner and doctors, you can easily do it in three simple steps.

Step 1: Decide on Key Details to Include in Your Plan

The first thing you should do is lay out your preferences for your birthing experience. Research the pros and cons of each detail of the delivery process so you have a better grasp of what you want and don’t want. Here are some of the things you should consider adding to your birth plan:

  • Pain management: Decide how you want to manage labor pains, whether it’s getting an epidural as soon as you’re allowed to or going through childbirth without pain meds.
  • Birthing positions: Include details on what position you’d like to be in when delivering your baby, such as squatting or lying on your back.
  • Emergency situations: If you must get an emergency C-section, write out all your requests, such as having your partner with you at all times.
  • Birthing environment: Specify how you want your delivery setting to feel. Include things like dim lighting, soothing music, or a quiet atmosphere if you want.
  • Who is present at the birth: List down the people you want to be with during labor, such as your spouse, family members, or a doula.
  • Post-birth requests: Tell your team what you want to happen immediately after your baby is out. Maybe you want to have skin-to-skin contact straight away or be able to breastfeed your baby in the first hour of birth.
  • Other non-negotiables: Include things that are big no-no’s for you, such as an episiotomy unless it’s absolutely necessary to save you and your baby.

Step 2: Communicate Your Plan with Your Birthing Team

A birth plan only works when you successfully communicate it with your entire birthing team, from your doctors to your midwife. Review the plan with them well before you deliver your baby. That way, they can suggest tweaks necessary for your unique pregnancy journey.

It’s also incredibly important to share the birth plan with your spouse. They should know exactly what you want to happen so that they can advocate for you while you’re in labor. To be extra sure everyone is on the same page, print out copies of your birth plan and share them with your doctors and nurses when you arrive at the hospital.

Step 3: Prepare for the Unexpected

Your birth plan is the blueprint for how you want your delivery to go. However, your baby may have other plans. It’s important to keep an open mind and stay flexible, especially when your doctor says you need to change a few things as you go through labor. For example, complications like your baby changing positions in your tummy might call for adjustments to the preferences you laid out before. 

It’s also important to know your legal rights. Sometimes, medical negligence occurs during childbirth, especially if your team doesn’t respect your birth plan and makes the wrong calls on your behalf. If you or your baby are injured in any way during delivery, reach out to a birth injury lawyer to ask how you can seek justice.

Endnote

Your birth experience, your rules. Making a birth plan with all the key details you’d like to happen during and after labor helps make bringing a baby into the world a lot less stress-inducing. You deserve to feel empowered and make all the decisions yourself, big or small. Start making a list of things you want your team to do during your delivery, and focus on staying healthy and welcoming your newborn.