If you’re considering creating a birth plan, you’ve likely decided to move forward with parenting or adoption. Birth is part of the natural process of getting to either of those goals.
While labor and birth are certainly not easy, having a birth plan can help you prepare emotionally, mentally, and physically for when the time comes.
A “birth plan” can sound like a long, intricate document, but it can be as simple as a one-page written outline summarizing your preferences for the experience.
Here are seven benefits of thinking ahead and creating one..
1. You Will Educate Yourself on the Process.
You can’t write a birth plan without first understanding the stages of labor and birth, the typical interventions, and pain management options. Making a birth plan will start with research, which can help you feel more educated and confident about the big day.
2. You Will Know How to Prepare.
Birth plans are not set in stone. Sometimes, unexpected medical issues require unique treatment to ensure the best for you and your baby.
However, if you do plan to have a natural birth or birth without an epidural but with other pain medications, you can begin preparing by doing certain exercises and learning breathing techniques and positions to make the experience better.
3. You May Avoid Certain Interventions.
During birth in a hospital, there’s often a chain reaction once you choose an intervention. It could cause a side effect that requires another form of treatment, which may also trigger another side effect, and so on.
Having a birth plan can help you review the non-essential medical interventions that you may not want until they are absolutely necessary. It will also help you feel confident asking your care team questions during the process.
4. It Will Inform Your Supporters.
Whether you have a partner or family member by your side during birth, a birth plan will also inform them of your preferences. Having conversations beforehand about it can be extremely helpful because they will know how to advocate for you and your health.
5. It Helps Your Care Team Understand You.
Sharing your birth plan with your care team will help them understand your mindset and desires. If they know you want to delay interventions or that you would prefer an epidural right away, they can help ensure that happens.
6. It Will Shape Your Postnatal Care Plan
Right after birth, there are various options for your and your baby’s care. Having a birth plan can ensure your care team knows your postnatal preferences if they are outside the usual plan.
For instance, some women may have preferences about when the umbilical cord is cut or clamped. Other women may prefer to bond with their babies before they receive any medical checks or testing. A lot of these choices are up to the woman to decide.
7. You Will Be Ready.
It takes time and research to create a birth plan. You may have also asked your doctor questions or reached out to friends who recently gave birth.
After all this preparation, you will feel ready for whenever the time comes. It will take some of the mystery out of it, and you will focus on reaching the finish line with your plan in hand. You can do this.
Visit Hope Pregnancy Center
Are you facing an unexpected pregnancy and still evaluating your options? We’re here to support you. Visit HOPE Pregnancy Center to receive early pregnancy services, confidential care, and answers to your questions.
You decide your future. We’re here to help you along the way.