Working out your birth plan
Giving birth is less daunting if you have an easy birth plan in mind to help the day go as smoothly as possible. See our birth plan guide below.
- Think about where you’d like to give birth. Home, hospital or birth center.
- Consider how you want to deliver your baby.
- Consider what kind of pain relief you’d like, if any.
- Talk to your healthcare provider (HCP) about skin-to-skin after birth.
- Talk to your HCP about lotus birth—keeping the placenta attached to baby once delivered.
- Talk to your HCP about interventions like ventouse and forceps.
- Consider where and how a birth partner can offer support.
- Share the birth plan with your birthing partner—maybe they can help write it.
- Consider any equipment you might like to use during labor: mats, beanbags, bars, balls, stools, and so on…
- Think about whether you’d like a water birth, if that is an option.
- Talk to your HCP if you have questions about Caesarean sections.
- Discuss how baby will be monitored during labor.
- Discuss any other birth plan options and preferences with your HCP.
- A natural birth is the ideal form of delivery, as long as there are no health complications. But of course, things don’t always go as planned, so it’s best to keep an open mind. What matters most is for you and baby to be healthy.
- Once you’ve got your birth plan sorted, you can start thinking about what you’ll need to pack. See our Hospital bag checklist for help.
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