Birth Plans

What is a birth plan?

It can be a difficult task for planning labor. Especially when you image all the options that are available to you, it may be much frustrated. Some women think it is useless and not even worth, because you can’t really plan for how your labor will go and don’t know if you will have problems or not before hand. However, this is truly the reason why you need a birth plan.

Why write a birth plan? How do I start?

Writing a birth plan can help you feel in control of your birth. By writing out such a plan, you become more informed about your birth. And in designing your birth plan, you become engaged in the birth experience and can feel more empowered.

When you are learning about the process and information of giving birth, you are on the way of making your own birth plans. Planning for the way you would like labor to be handled, and writing them down is a way to help you share those desires and expectations with the rest of your birth team.

When you giving it to your care provider, you will be able to determine what are the best options to you, and what might not be suitable to you. This will help your caregiver to understand clearly what kind of support you are looking for. And it is also a way to help you to choose if this care provider is the best match for you. Also, a clear birth plan can help hospital staffs who do not know you to understand what need you are pursuing and what kind of supports they can provide to you, especially during a difficult labor.

A fully used birth plan doesn’t mean your labor will be ideal

Although your birth plan is fully used, it’s doesn’t mean your labor is just the same as you imagine. This is the normal mistaken idea for some mothers. In case everything went smoothly and easily in labor, and everyone were following your request. In the mean time, labor process is ideal and there is no such kind of situation that required you to make a decision. In that case, we don’t even need a birth plan. It is not a contract with your birth team and also not a screenplay of your labor process. It is just a tool.

It can help you make you and your birth team a good cooperation and seek the best way for your labor. One birth plan cannot fully demonstrate all your needs to your birth team, especially some critical issues. But form the birth plan you can ask many questions to your midwives. You can talk with your birth team, to further discuss and clarify your needs and find the best available option to you.

Paragraph birth plan format

1. The first paragraph, you can give an introduction about yourself and who will be with you during labor.

2. The next paragraph you should list the important impacts during your labor. For example, some women will care about environmental factors, and for others, they will more concern about the interventions accompany or not.

3. In this paragraph, you can indicate some other preferences, such as: “We can understand may be we cannot get our labor as our planning due to some environment factors. But before you change our plans, we would like to be informed in advance and give us other options.”

4. And also, you may need write down how to deal with a emergency case.

5. The last Paragraph you can state your plans on newborn care. And also share appreciate to the whole team.

Excerpt from www.birthingnaturally.net