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BirthPlan 101

Planning is the stone that leads to success. It is known to be one of the pillars to the success of any event, trip or anything we do. Preparation makes us feel more confident, more resilient to eventualities.

When we put so much effort into planning any major event in our lives, why do we not do the same for one of the most important events of a woman’s life, her birth. How can we plan this ? What does it mean to plan a birth? 

In today’s blog, I will be taking you through the basics of what a birth plan is and much more. In its basic form a birth plan is simply a list of things you want and do not want during your labor and birth. 

It lists out what you wish to have during labor for instance a birth partner, your husband or your doula during your labor process. You can include choices like delayed cord clamping, immediate skin-to-skin contact right after birth, epidurals and much more. 

Why is this important? Imagine going to a new city and you haven’t done any research or planning, won’t you be completely lost and blindsided in case of any eventuality. This is exactly what we want to avoid with the introduction of a birth plan during your pregnancy, so that when the time comes, you, your birth partner, doula , doctor and hospital staff will at least have an idea of what you expect from them as a form of care. 

The Birth plan is not a binding document but can definitely be easily incorporated into your pregnancy and birth. You can either look up some birth plans online and get one of those as a base to make your own or get in touch with a doula/ Birth consultant to help you with the same.

Some Basic categories that can be covered in your birth plan are as follows: 

– Your Name 

– Partner’s Name 

– Doctor’s Name and number 

– Doula’s name and number 

– Hospital’s name and number 

– Type of Birth : Vaginal, Natural, Water, Normal, C-sec 

– Episiotomy choice 

– Epidural choice 

– Atmosphere of the labor room, where you would like to labor. – Pain management methods alternative to epidurals. 

– Who should be with you during labor at all times, at intervals and in case of a c-sec. 

– Breastfeeding choices. 

– Vaccination choices. 

These are some of the basic things that can be covered under a birth plan. Again a birth plan is not concrete.Aspects of it can change according to and during your labor or post the birth as well.

It is a big help to everyone including the mother to not only visualize her birth and labor but also for everyone to feel more involved in this journey., and be more aware of the choices the mother wants to make. 

The birth plan is your go to guide when it comes to how you envision your labor and birth. The entire process when put onto paper makes it seem less daunting. The pressure slowly starts to fade because as we formulate and think about the choices we want to make, we also put in the energy to research and gain more information to make informed choices.

This is a great step in not only couple binding but also bond with your doula. It is also a good measure to understand what is and isn’t possible in your hospital of choice and then accordingly choose where you would like to give birth.

Soon enough we at Sahyadri Hospital’s Momstory will have a customized birth plan to any mother who would like to avail of it. A birth plan is just one more tool in the bag of a well aware mother. I personally wish for all mothers to make this an essential part of her pregnancy.

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