Effective (and Simple) Birth Plan Idea

We’re big proponents of birth plans.

SIMPLE birth plans.

Unless you’re going into a birth that has expectation of complications or special circumstances, the best way to convey your birth goals and desires to medical staff is by keeping it short and sweet.

Our recommended birth plan starts with a little intro of who you are. If you or your partner are coming into this birth with some anxiety, trauma, history that impacts your birth, etc, this is the best place to let your nurses know a quick snippet of your story. When your medical support staff can learn a bit about you personally, they have an opportunity to connect with you in a different way. We want all of your support team to literally be on YOUR team.

The next portion is just a handful of bullet points of the things in this birth experience that are extra important to you that are NOT things that are done in the standard, every day birth at that hospital. That doesn’t mean you’ll have to fight to get them, it just means the medical staff may not anticipate you want those things because no one has asked for it recently.

Example: Please don’t offer me pain medication. I’ll ask for it when I’m ready.

Nurses and providers are typically incredibly generous individuals. When the pain relief options are available and you look like you may be at a place of wanting those options, they’re happy to share the idea with you. If your goal is an unmedicated birth and being offered the epidural might mess with your rhythm, it’s a simple request to ask them not to mention it to you.

Here’s an example PDF of our recommended birth plan.