Birth Plan
Author: Shannon Miller Lifestyle
When you are pregnant, your doctor may ask you “What’s your birth plan?”
You can stumble over your words, trying desperately to remember what kind of birth you wish to have, or you can plan this in advance.
Birth plans, such as the one at BabyCenter.com, help you define how your want your childbirth to go. This does NOT mean by any means that things will go as planned! After all, emergencies do happen, and sometimes we need to be flexible for the life of our child. But, it can set you, your significant other, and your birth team at ease if you have a basic plan to go by for the big day.
For example, you may want an all-natural birth with no medicines of any kind. We hope that there are not any emergencies, but if there were, you are completely in control of overriding your birth plan if you decide medicines are necessary, or even a caesarian.
Get your thoughts together and write them down. How do you want the big day to go? Do you have specific medications that the doctors and nurses need to remember? What about allergies? Try to jot it all down, and then share it with your significant other. He or she may help you find even more information that you may forget. Next, keep it as a document that you can save on Google Drive or Dropbox, two fantastic functions that allow you to save documents to access anywhere. This way, you can access your thoughts on your phone, tablet, or laptop. Then, print out a copy to keep in your hospital bag, a copy for your obstetrician, and a copy for your birth center. This way, anyone that is attending you that day will know your wishes. You won’t have to stumble for words in the middle of labor. It is important to have it available for attending doctors at the birth center, because your own obstetrician may have another emergency on your big day.