Get your FREE "Birth Plan Blueprint" HERE
Listen to my birth stories HERE and HERE
Learn about how to have a safe hospital delivery HERE
Learn more about newborn vaccines HERE
A common misconception about birth plans is that they aren't worth your time because you can't predict the future.
However, birth plans don't predict how birth will go; they prepare you for making decisions when things happen during delivery.
Your birth plan can be as simple or detailed as you prefer. Remember, this is a tool for you to cultivate an empowering birth experience and communicate effectively with your medical team.
I’ve seen some mamas on social media that simply say their birth plan was to “have a baby, have a drink, and get some rest.” And that’s amazing. My birth plan was much more detailed than that, and that’s what worked for us. Both are great ways to plan.
Some mamas print their birth plan out, others (like me) just type a few things on their phone, others just commit the biggest things to memory and go from there. Again, it’s whatever helps you feel most comfortable and confident going into birth!
For today’s purposes, I’ll explain how to write your birth plan as if you were bringing it on a physical piece of paper. If you are a little nervous about advocating for yourself, maybe a piece of paper would be easier for you because you can just hand it over and say “this is the plan” and “check my birth plan” when something comes up. If you’re confident having conversations with the birth team, maybe doing it on your phone would be easiest!
Also, make sure your partner has a copy too. When you’re in active labor, you might not be in a place to pull out your phone and read!
Okay, let’s talk about how to write your birth plan. The easiest way to do this is think through the major “checkpoints” of labor, delivery, and recovery first, then try and get really specific at the end.
I’m going to go through a bunch of options here, but don’t worry about remembering everything or writing it all down. Just listen to me describe everything and then head to the shownotes and download my free printable birth plan!
Some of the major checkpoints are:
Some of the more important decisions to make might be:
Less critical (but still important) decisions to make might be:
Now, you don’t have to have an opinion about every single thing I just mentioned. But, sometimes it’s helpful to know how much you can have an opinion on so you can really make this experience as best as possible.
I remember after my first delivery, I had no idea I could eat during labor or push in different positions, even with an epidural, and I was so disappointed I didn’t know that before because I would’ve done things differently had I known.
So, as you make your birth plan, remember that this is YOUR day and the birth team is here to advise you and support you, not control you or make decisions for you.
And most importantly, remember that it’s not about having a perfect experience, it’s about having an empowered experience and getting your baby here safely.
I also want to make the disclaimer that I’ve never had a c-section and I really don’t know much about what’s possible or not possible in the OR, so there are probably options or things to consider that I didn’t include. If you’re planning on a cesarean or want to have a plan for that, I’d reach out to “thelabormama” or “madelinemoves” on Instagram. They’re both excellent resources for this topic.
If you want to hear two positive induction stories with explanations of some important decisions, listen to episodes 11 and 79. If you want more information about having a safe and empowering hospital birth from a childbirth attorney, listen to episode 23 (all those will be linked in the shownotes).
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