Preparing Your Birth Plan: 3 Things to Include

Congratulations on your pregnancy. We hope that it is all going smoothly and that between doctor appointments or visiting family and friends you get a chance to sit down and take some time for yourself.

This time should of course be relaxing and time for you to prepare for the big adventure of bringing a baby into the world. At this time you should sit down and plan out your birth plan. This is the document or reference point for your birth partner, your midwife or doula, and sometimes your doctor will use it.

But what to include? Here are three things you should include in your birth plan

People

Up front, you need important names ready at your fingertips.

Have the names and contact details of your birth partner, an emergency contact, a backup friend, midwife, doula, and anyone else who you might want or need on the day. This is a fantastic safety net that should your midwife or your primary doctor be unable to physically be there on the day they can be contacted for information.

It’s also got to perhaps include people you do not want in the room. This might sound silly but during your labour, you want to be as calm and relaxed as possible and having stressful people around will not be good.

Medical Information

Now, this is probably less important if you are giving birth at your local hospital that has access to your medical records HOWEVER it is good to have something ready to go at a moment’s notice. Here are a few ideas:

Allergies – Just so everyone is on the same page list your allergies – food, environmental and medication-based allergies are better to have written down for your peace of mind.

Pain management – take control and list when you would like to be offered pain relief and, if you know, what kind of medications you would prefer. Chat to your midwife and doctors about what is available to you.

After birth – This is something you know all your options for so you can make the most informed decision about what you want to do with it. If you want to keep it you need to let your hospital know and have it noted down. If you have chosen to have it privately stored, not down the process so that on the day no one is out of the loop. If you want to donate it, check with services that will be able to do this. Some NHS hospitals might not allow it.

Lots to think about but, at the end of the day, these are all important notes as on the day you will have bigger things to focus on.

The Environment

Having control over how your birthing suite (in a hospital or at home) can play a key role in your whole labour and delivery. Lay out your plan and do your best to make it work.

Do you want a birthing pool? Do you want music or headphones? Do you want the lights dimmed? Think about the ideal scenario you would like. You might not get everything in a hospital setting but for home births, you can get exactly what you want.

The Plan Bs

Nothing goes 100% perfectly to plan every time. Your birth plan should have some plan Bs worked into it. Little things to reduce the potential panic scenarios. Keep in control as much as you possibly can even when things don’t go perfectly to plan.

If you are having a home birth, there may be a chance you need to go to the hospital. Note down some things you might want should you have to be taken in. For any plan have something there for the people around you should an emergency occur.

No matter what your birth plan is your chance to put in as much or as little detail as you wish about the big day.