It is very obvious that most couples discuss the labor and birth of their child with each other and most of the time, they want things to go in a particular manner but it is not quite possible to stay on track during the labor and delivery.
Most of the time, the midwives and doctors have to ignore the patient’s preferences and make spontaneous decisions which can be a surprise for the mother and birth partner. In order to make sure that doctors understand what a woman in labor wants, a birth plan is created and it is handover to the doctor prior to the labor.
Elements that are included in a Birth Plan:
- Your Birth Partner:
This explains the role of your husband in the birth process if you want him to stay with you all the time or leave the room in a specific situation. This also gives the delivery staff an idea if they have to call your husband in order to get permission for a C-section or someone else. - Your Position for Labor and Birth:
This provides an idea about in what position you want to lie on the bed during labor and in what position you want to give birth to your child. - Pain Relief:
If you want to have drugs in order to lower the pain and make the birth process less painful, you need to mention that on the birth plan and if you want to stay awake and active the entire time, you can also put that on the plan. - Making Birth Process Faster:
It is quite possible that your birth process can be delayed from a couple of hours to a few days and you have to indicate in the birth plan if you want to speed up the birth process in case of a delay or if you want to let go everything in a natural way. - Skin-to-skin Contact:
This is not very common but some women want to have their babies placed on their tummy right after birth whereas some like to clean the baby first and then put it in their hands. - Feeding the Baby:
If you want to feed breast milk to your child, you need to mention that on the plan so that nurses don’t give him bottled milk when you are asleep.
Here are previews and download links of a Free Sample Birth Plan Templates created using MS Word,
What happens after creating a Birth Plan?
Once you have created and finished the birth plan with your partner, it is time to show it and discuss the particulars with the midwife at a local hospital. It is important that you discuss your birth plan with the midwife at least 2-3 months prior to the delivery so that you can ask the questions you have in your mind about the labor and delivery process and also if you have added something specific that is not good according to your condition, you can easily change it or use an alternate process. This is also very important because childbirth is usually unpredictable and things do not go as planned so talking to the midwife gives her an idea about your preferences and choices so that if she has to take spontaneous action, you can rely on her.