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Why do I need a birth plan at all? The hospital/midwives know what they are doing!
Because the way birth in a medical setting has evolved is more about the institution and less about supporting you as an individual.
Policies like routine vaginal exams, coached pushing, and birthing on your back have been proven to have negative outcomes for you and your baby, yet they are done standardly.
You need to write down your informed decisions about your care.
A birth plan flags to your care team that you wish to be treated as an individual.
Will my care team even read/follow my birth plan?
I can't sit here and tell you that if you have a well-written birth plan, your care team will definitely read it and will follow it to the letter.
It is absolutely possible that you will get a midwife who is a brilliant patient advocate and will spend the time needed to get to know your wishes.
But the good news is that I don't actually think a birth plan is for the staff.
If you and your birth partner know what is written on there (and I always say to pack a spare copy that your birth partner can keep with them), you can advocate confidently for your wishes, even if your medical care team isn't aware of them straight away.
Why the Birth Plan template is crucial
The right template can guide you in your research about your birth choices, it can highlight areas you need to look into more, and prompt discussions with your birth partner and care team.
The wrong template can reinforce the institution's culture. I have seen hospital-provided birth plan templates have pre-filled options for things like cervical checks (I understand cervical checks are recommended to help keep track of my progress or I would like to be asked each time ahead of a cervical check..... where is the I would like no routine cervical check option huh?!).
Good templates have sections that allow you to consider your choices for:
Place of birth
The environment you wish to create in your birth space
Your pain relief options
Your choices for the first stage or active stage of labour
Your preferences for the second stage or pushing stage of labour
How you would like to birth your placenta (Third stage of labour)
What do you wish the hours immediately after birth to look like (Golden hour- it doesn't have to be just an hour)
Your wishes for if you should need to to go theatre for the repair of a tear or a retained placenta.
Your feelings about induction or augmentation of labour
Your medical history
Your wishes should you need a cesarean
I have created my own Birth plan template that includes all these things and prompts to help you guide your research, you can access it here:
What is the point in planning a perfect birth, as birth never goes to plan?
Yes birth is difficult to predict, and things can change once you are actually in labour, but there are two points I want to make here:
Making informed birth choices can reduce your risk of certain outcomes, like instrumental birth or cesarean section. If you want to know more about the cascade of intervention and how you can avoid it, check out my recent blog post below.
Your birth plan is not just about your perfect birth, it creates plans for lots of different scenarios and ensures that you have done enough research that should something come up you did not consider, you still have a wide background knowledge that will allow you to make an informed choice.
When should I have my birth plan finished?
I always encourage my virtual doula families to begin working on their birth plan at the start of the third trimester, it's not something you want to leave too late as you might find you need to do a bit more research to enable you to decide what you want.
I say to have a good copy of your birth plan printed from 37 weeks, just in case the baby decides to come 'early' you will have something to take with you to the hospital or show to your midwife in a home birth. You also don't want to be doing too much 'new research' late into your pregnancy, that time is for relaxing!
Leaving your birth plan until you go on maternity leave is tempting, but might be leaving it a little late in my opinion! - If you have done all the research and just need to write it down, that could be ok, but no one wants to be scribbling down a birth plan in early labor!
Once you have the 'final' document, you can tweak it and re-print right upto the last minute, it's an ever-evolving document, it's okay if things change!
How many copies of my birth plan do I need?
I would say at least 3.
One for your birth partner
One for you to refer to
One to give to your midwife
In reality, I would probably take more than that, incase there is a shift change and the midwife copy gets lost, or there is a student midwife, or a consultant becomes involved in your care.
Don't forget one for your Doula as well if you are having one present at your birth!
Can a virtual doula help with writing my birth plan?
Yes!
With my Doula in your-pocket clients, I provide a template and a recommended resource list. Once my families have drafted their birth plan I review it, not to judge their choices, but to see if I can recommend any additional things they could consider adding, or if they need to be clearer or more precise in their instructions.
People often request additional calls around this time, to go over areas where they are finding it hard to make a decision, so I can provide evidence-based information to help them make an informed choice.
If people have chosen my Empowered Virtual Doula package this birth planning call is already included.
I also offer one-off birth planning sessions to take families through each section of the birth plan and provide them with evidence-based information that they can consider before making their choices. These are two hours long and can be done in one or two sessions.
You can find out more about the different services I offer here:
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