Considerations When Creating a Birth Plan

If you have other children or pets, you’ll need to make plans for them prior to going into labor. Be sure to ask your parents, friends, or loved ones to be available on call to watch your children or pets when you go into labor, especially if they’ll have to pick them up. Likewise, discuss with them your wishes for sleeping arrangements, and hospital visitation once baby arrives.

Believe it or not, the moment you get to the hospital, it’s not all about putting your feet up and pushing. The laboring period can take time, and for many women, that time isn’t spent laying on their back in bed. If you are hoping for different laboring positions out of bed, make sure your support team and doctor is aware of it, so they can help accommodate your laboring preference.

Traditionally, mothers choose to give birth at the hospital, and for many soon-to-be mothers, they have a preference of which hospital they are taken to after doing research during pregnancy and speaking with their doctor. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other options available for those who would like to take a different route. If you prefer giving birth in your home or in a birthing center, you should include that in your plans. That way, when the time comes to starting contractions, the person assisting you knows how to set everything up or help take you to your desired location.

Click here for a Look at the Pros and Cons of Various Birthing Locations

Depending on the size of your family, or your personal preferences, you may or may not want traffic in and out of the room during delivery. For some women there are concerns about having dad-to-be in the delivery room, or letting parents and grandparents in immediately after delivery. If you have trouble communicating your wishes to family and friends, sharing your wishes with your spouse, midwife, or even your doctor can help, as they can help relay this information to family and friends so they give you the time and space you want to deliver and bond with your new baby.

In addition to the family and friend preference you have for the delivery room and post-delivery visitation, another consideration is who want included in your birthing team. Perhaps it’s as simple as you and your spouse, but for other women, there is the consideration of having a birthing coach, or a doula, or the specification of a midwife versus an OB, these are all details that should be established prior to the final weeks of pregnancy.

Before labor begins, in some cases induction methods are required to get the process started. Before it gets to this point however, you should have your mind made up whether you want to participate in elective or recommended induction methods. While some labor induction may not be possible due to certain circumstances, being aware of the natural and medically assisted approaches to induction is good knowledge to have ahead of time so that you know what methods are your first preference, if given the choice, and so that you know what to expect why these methods are proposed.

This may seem like a simple, or even silly question, but there are steps that you need to take that lead up to your ideal birth method. For example, you may have your heart set on delivering naturally, and there for you may be interested in different types of delivery positions for a natural birth. On the other hand if you are looking for a scheduled C-section, your doctor will need to be made aware of this so they are ready to proceed when the time comes.

If you are looking at giving birth at home or in a birthing center, other considerations should be addressed as well. For example, if you want to begin and continue your delivery in water to ease contractions. This should be noted and even discussed with your spouse, midwife or doctor so that they can ensure a birthing tub is available when the time comes.

There’s no question, regardless of which child birthing route you decide, there will be some pain involved, which is why it is important to decide ahead of time what measures you want to take to limit your pain. Let doctors or your spouse know ahead of time if you want to approve an epidural or if there is a specific type of epidural you do or do not want. If you want your spouse or birthing coach to apply counter pressure measures to ease contraction pain, make sure they know how to apply it and are ready to do so when needed. Alternative pain reduction methods such as hypnobirthing and hypnosis, aromatherapy, heat packs or breathing techniques should also be noted so those around you can help you apply them if the pain begins to fog your mindset.

Click here for a Complete Guide to Contraction and Delivery Pain Relief Methods

For many new mothers, simply having their baby to hold is the only end goal, for others, there are other preferences when it comes to post-delivery. For example, one trend that has become more popular is placenta encapsulation, if this is something you want to do, sharing this knowledge with your doctor or midwife ahead of time will be key. Other preferences may include delayed cord clamping, umbilical cord milking or cord blood donation, all of which should be discussed with your doctor or midwife ahead of time to plan for these practices to be followed if possible.