Coming Up With A Birth Plan: Is It Necessary?
You might come up with a birth plan and wonder if it’s necessary. The answer is: it’s entirely up to you. It can help you communicate and think about your desires for your baby’s birth with your healthcare team and partner.
A birth plan is a checklist of your choices for your baby’s birth. It is a plan that contains information about who will be with you during your delivery, where you plan to give birth, which birth approach you’d want to use, how you will take care of your baby, and what types of feeding you would want for your baby.
There are lots of things you can include in your childbirth. And if you’re a first-time mom, having a birth plan can be useful to organize your plan well for your baby.
Advantages Of A Birth Plan
Having a birth plan can help you arrange your thoughts and plans around your choices for your delivery and your baby’s needs. Also, your birth plan can offer a structure for successful communication with your doctor. For instance, if you want to have a natural delivery, your doctor may ask the hospital to appoint you a nurse who has experience with that kind of delivery.
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What To Add to Your list
Are you still not sure where to start? First, you need to choose the hospital or Doctor you want to deliver your baby with. They often have their own forms for birth plans to utilize or personalize for your specific needs. Also, try to summarize your plan and focus more on these topics:
- Delivery room – Add any wishes and requests about the ambiance of the delivery room.
- People you want to be with you in the delivery room – Write the names of the people you wish to be with you during your delivery.
- Pain management – Make a plan for your pain management during labor.
- Observing your baby – Talk about how the team plans to observe your baby’s heart rate during labor.
- Labor choices – Mark off any method you’d want to apply to help your labor progress or for you to calm down. These involve lying down, walking, breathing techniques, and standing.
- Medical interventions – Include what you think about the medical interventions during your labor, including breaking your water, inducing labor, having C-section, or using forceps.
- Placenta and umbilical cord – Take note of who you would like to cut your umbilical cord, whether your doctor or partner. Specify also if you have the plan to keep your placenta or umbilical cord so that they will know early.
- Baby care – Indicate if you like your baby to stay in your room with you after labor or if your baby can stay in the nursery room. You may also express your desires for feeding your baby, whether it’s through a bottle or breastfeeding.
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When To Make A Birth Plan
Making a plan in advance will help you reduce your worries about anything else during labor. Hence, outline your ideas at least two weeks before your delivery day, and review it with your healthcare provider. You must also check and review your birth plan with anybody who will be with you during labor.
If having a baby is in your mind, you’ve possibly been planning in advance. However, before your baby is born, you must create a plan for your baby’s birth. Furthermore, a birth plan is an essential piece of communication with your doctor and your partner, so you should consider making one.
