Congratulations on your pregnancy! We hope it is all going swimmingly. You are probably doing your best to juggle time with the family, visits to your doctor and to keep your daily routine.
Well, we are here to remind you that in amongst all that you need to take some time to relax.
However, if sitting perfectly still and doing nothing fills you with dread, we do have a suggestion. Take a breather and create your birth plan. Don’t know what that is? Or not sure what to include? Read on and we will help you out.
The Plan
Your birth plan is a document that includes all the details of how you would prefer your birth to go.
Essentially it is where you can lay out your wishes for the people in the room.
It can have whatever you deem necessary for the hospital or birth centre to know, stuff for your midwife if you are choosing to give birth at home, and details for your birth partner or family members.
It is customisable to your wants and needs and you can be as specific as you choose.
So what could you include?
Medical Details
If you are giving birth in a birthing centre or a hospital, then they will have some form of medical record but in an emergency taking the time to find a specific medical detail could take a while.
If you want to have a note that your birth partner and your doctor could take advantage of, include a list of the medications you are on, medical conditions, allergies and the like.
Having them there available to you at the drop of a hat can be extremely useful. You may also want to include any details about what you are doing with your placenta.
Might sound random but there are a couple of options. If you want it to just go in the bin as medical waste, then you don’t need to say anything. If you want to keep it, let people know.
The most complicated, and really, it’s not too tricky to organise, is if you want to keep or store your placenta.
If that is the case, make sure you are fully prepped with anything you need and write down what you have planned and or keep any paperwork to hand.
Lastly, tell people how you want your pain to be managed. If there is something you really would rather not take, tell people but also have it in your plan.
Environment
This is probably easiest to control when having a home birth, but you can certainly ask hospitals or birthing centres what they have available.
Birth is… stressful (probably an understatement and a half) so having a good environment around you can work wonders.
Maybe you can request dim lighting, music via a little speaker or in your headphones, curtains drawn etc.
Check out your options and put the plan in place. You want to be focused and as calm as possible on the big day.
You may also benefit from noting down how you want medical info delivered to you.
Do you want brutal honesty the whole time, would you prefer information be fed through your birth partner or do you just want the basics first, complicated later? This is a big day for you so make sure you advocate for yourself.
People
This is a short follow on to the environment and something for your birth partner to be involved in.
People will just as excited to see the new baby as you are but if you need people to be kept away for the initial moments or even the day, write it down.
Your birth partner can be there to keep people out and have your back when it comes to nosey family members.
Outside of doctors, nurses and midwives, you can pick who you want in the room and who you would rather not.
It is all Yours
At the end of the day, your plan can be made with as much detail or as little as you can be bothered to include.
Even better if you get really really stuck you can use an online template. This is something that is 100% in your control so make it yours.
Just one final thing to note. Keep in mind that with birth being an entirely unpredictable process, your birth plan may need to include some flexibility or contingency plans.
That way in the moment there is less stress, and you can focus on the important things.