At some point in your pregnancy you may wish to make a birth plan. A birth plan is a written outline of your wishes and desires for your child birthing experience. It also can cover what you would like to happen if common complications (like needing a c-section) arise. It can be as detailed or as un-detailed as you wish. Many women are deciding that they want a say in what goes on and have created birth plans for that purpose. It’s a simple and non-confrontational way for you to make your wishes and desires known. A birth plan is just a statement of preferences and will not over ride any necessary medical procedures and is subject to change by you at any point.

At some point during your pregnancy, your doctor may bring up writing a birth plan and may even provide you with one to fill out. It’s wise to ask his advice on any issues that you may be uncertain of.

Your birth plan can contain some or all of the following:

• When you will go to the hospital or birthing location



• Whether or not you wish to use pain medications. This could be as specified as a list of acceptable pain meds.



• Whether or not you wish to have an epidural



• What the role of the coach or support person will be and who that person is



• Who you want to cut the cord



• Names of people who will be allowed in your room during labor



• What kind of testing you will allow



• Under what circumstances you will allow an episiotomy



• Types of procedures you will allow to further or quicken your labor, such as Pitocin to help your contractions move along



• Type of labor techniques you will be using such as Bradley method

This website has a free birth plan that you can print and customize for your own labor and delivery experience.

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Other Posts in this Series:
Hospital Series Introduction
Labor Support Person