Becoming a mother is one of a woman’s biggest transformations in life, yet we can be so quick to hand over the experience and our trust to others. A care provider may have more knowledge and experience in the world of birth, however they are not qualified in knowing who we are, nor do they have an understanding of our personal foundations - what feels safe to us and what we define as feeling appropriately supported.  

Formulating a birth plan can be seen as an exercise that can help you to get clear on what is important to you and can provide you with the clarity to make any decisions that may need to be made during birth feel much less overwhelming.

Why do I need a birth plan?

• Once you have things written out, you can use your plan as a way to instigate and guide important conversations with care providers who are supporting your birth (such as what is important to you during your birth).
• Helps to build trust and confidence with those supporting you, as well as helps to make sure you feel aligned with their services and that you don’t need to make any changes. 
• By having productive conversations prenatally you become familiar with your care providers communication style. (The first time you discuss choices and options shouldn’t be during birth). 
• Helps your attendants get to know you. Having foundational prenatal discussions set you apart as an individual (and shows your LMC that you may question or decline a routine procedure). 

How do I create a birth plan?

Creating a birth plan is one of the minimal yet most impactful things you can do in preparation for your birth experience and it is never too early to begin. 

• Engage in a self care practice that helps you to understand the relationship you have with your body (especially while it is going through such a transformational change). 
• Take responsibility through personal research into the world of birth. It is important to explore the options available to you and to understand how they may be presented to you during your labour and birth and the decisions that may need to be made both for you and your baby.
  
  Some birth plan options to research and include:
• Location of birth (where you would like to give birth: home, birthing unit, hospital).
• Choices about how your baby and labour will be monitored/not monitored.
• Comfort measures through each stage of labour. 
• No medication/pain relief options.
• Delayed cord clamping.
• Skin to skin with your baby.
• Birth of the placenta.
• Your wishes for breast, bottle feeding and/or the use of formula.

Your birth plan should be:

• Short and point form: this makes it easier to read and more likely to be read in its entirety.
• Realistic and relevant: include only things that you and your birth team can control, such as things that are important to you, your values, and your preferences.
• Positive: Try to word your plan in terms of you want instead of what you don’t want!
• Personal: Give reasons, where possible, for why your choices are important to you.

Our personal experiences, health and personality will all contribute to how we birth.

There is no one person that can guarantee the birth we may want and we cannot have the chance of having the birth that we want if we do not take accountability to find out what that birth looks like for us.

To help you to get clear on what matters to you for your birth and for support creating your personalised birth plan, book a session with our Maternal Health Consultant, Vanessa Werner.