Birth Matters Virginia

Birth Plan

Creating Your Birth Plan

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Sample Hospital Plan

Sample Birth Center Plan

Sample Home Birth Plan

“…Your birth plan is a wish list. Its purpose is not to control birth itself, since birth, as a force of nature, is actually under no one’s control. Rather the birth plan aims to educate you, help you make decisions and communicate them to your caregivers…” Wagner, Marsden (2006)

Childbirth is uncharted territory for the pregnant woman. Every woman has a unique labor experience different from every other woman and yet the physiological process of birth is universal. Many factors affect the labor experience: the birth setting, the birth team, our feelings about the pregnancy and/or new child, our fears, hopes, or spiritual beliefs. Birth is more than a physical feat. It is the compilation of all these factors.

Preparing for birth is important. Spend time asking yourself what will make you most comfortable. What calms you? Soothes you? Who encourages you to feel confident and capable? The answers will tell you how you will best birth.

The Birth Plan is the place to write out your wishes and preferences. It’s important to keep it brief, straightforward and reasonable. State things in the positive and as requests. For instance, when choosing a hospital setting, it might not be reasonable to request a water birth if they have a policy against water birth. Take the time to get to know your caregiver and the policies of the hospital, birthing center, or midwife practice.

Before creating the Birth Plan, research the statistics of the hospital, birthing center, or homebirth midwife. The following are some of the questions you might consider:

What is the epidural rate?
What is the induction rate?
What is the episiotomy rate?
What is the protocol after a woman’s water breaks? (For instance, how many hours will you allow me to labor without intervention?)
Is there an anesthesiologist on staff?
Do you allow rooming in?
Is there a lactation specialist on staff?
Do you allow doulas?
Do you provide continuous labor support?
What non-medical pain relief is available? (For instance, birthing tubs, exercise balls, massage)
If it’s homebirth, what is the transfer rate of the midwife?
Which hospital will I be taken to if requiring a transfer from home to hospital?

The answers to these questions may help you form your Birth Plan. If avoiding an epidural is important to you, a hospital with a 24 hour anesthesiologist on the labor and delivery floor, may make that goal challenging. Or, if you do not have a partner to support you during labor, and hiring a doula or finding a caregiver to offer continuous labor support is necessary for a positive labor experience, you will want to be sure that doulas are allowed or the staff offers continuous support.

Based on your personal religious or philosophical beliefs, there may be other procedural questions you’d like answered before creating the Birth Plan. For instance, a mother might write in her Birth Plan a request to be in the room when a son is circumcised. For that woman, it might be important to hold or touch him while the procedure is being done. So much happens in the first few hours after birth that it can be overwhelming without decisions made beforehand.

The Birth Plan is the place for you to write all of the things that matter to you. If in the hospital, this plan will be clipped to your chart and will allow the changing shifts of labor nurses to give you a continuity of care that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. It also gives you, as the laboring woman, the chance to focus on the labor and the not a myriad of decisions once in the hospital or birthing center.

According to Marsden Wagner, author of Creating your Birth Plan: The Definitive Guide to a Safe and Empowering Birth, the following are topic areas to consider for your Birth Plan:

Informed Consent
Location and Labor Environment
Birth Attendants and Companions
Basic Care
Onset of Labor
Progress of Labor
Pain Management
Movement
Laboring Positions
Speed of Delivery
Instrumental Birth
Tearing and Episiotomy
Cesarean Section
Third Stage of Labor (from the time the baby is born until the umbilical cord is cut)
Baby Care

Creating Your Birth Plan goes into greater detail of each section and is available on Amazon. If possible, keep the Birth Plan to one page to ensure that the nursing staff will have the time to review your information. If a midwife will be giving continuous labor support, it might be best to review your Birth Plan in a prenatal visit.

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