With the unpredictability of the birthing experience, many people wonder if they should really bother making a birth plan. My friend and Hypnobirthing facilitator, Etta Deschamps, sums the answer up nicely as she explains to her clients that they would not consider turning up on their wedding day without having made the necessary plans and preparations so why do the same for giving birth?! Even though you cannot control every variable and outcome, it is important to be clear on your expectations and have these communicated to others via your birth plan.
So what is a birth plan anyway? Quite simply it is a document to communicate your birthing preferences to those who will be supporting your process, either in a hospital, birthing centre or home setting. A birth plan allows you to be more empowered in your birthing journey and is certainly very important if you are planning a natural unmedicated birth which, unfortunately these days, is becoming far from the norm. Your plan will state your preferences ranging from the clothes you wear to position you birth in, number of people present, desires not to be offered medication, how the baby is given to you after birth and much more.
It is important to discuss your plan in advance of the big day to ensure that you and your caregiver are both in agreement and it is likely that you will make some revisions to your birth plan through these discussions. I originally wrote my plan for a homebirth but had to modify it when we could not get a midwife to assist us and decided to have our baby in the hospital.
A birth plan done in advance also helps you to find a health care professional that you can work with harmoniously; so that if your chosen birthing attendant is adamantly opposed to your choices, you have will then have enough time to find someone else. I was very blessed to have a natural midwife assistant look over my plan and explain more clearly to me the options I had available so I could be well informed and take a stand for what I believed was right in the face of some uncertainty and opposition from others who had a different perspective.
Happy Mama, Happy Baby
To create a birth plan is good to look at a number of sample plans and choose which style works best for you. Whilst you want to be thorough, you also need to make it easy and quick to read which is especially vital if you are birthing in a large hospital setting where you may never have met the staff on duty at the time. Using simple bullet points is effective. Asking questions about what is normal practice in the place you plan to birth will help you to address the issues that are most important and avoid making statements on those things which are not relevant. For example, I did not want my baby to be bathed on the first day and I was told that this was not the normal practice of the hospital so I did not need to even mention it.
It is absolutely possible to have a peaceful, happy, enjoyable and completely natural birthing experience but you do need to be clear and focused on achieving it and make preparations. More than just words on a paper, your birth plan needs to become a part of your life leading up to the due date. Make sure you are fit, healthy and taking all the right steps to achieve your goal. If you are insisting that you do not want any medication make sure you are practice techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, relaxation, visualisation to make this a reality.
We’ve all heard the saying about ‘the best laid plans…’ and it is important to keep in mind that no matter how much you want to stick to your plan, the health of you and your baby is paramount. So if you planned on a soothing water birth with soft music, dim lights and hypnobirthing techniques but your caregiver sees a problem that eventually necessitates an emergency caesarean then be prepared to shift gears and do all that is necessary to deliver a healthy baby. (Obviously you want a caregiver that fully supports your plan and will only advise you to go against it in a strict emergency)
Writing a birth plan can enhance the sweet anticipation of birthing your baby and is a great tool to get prepared for the natural birth you desire.
More links to support your natural birth plans are here:
http://www.bygpub.com/natural/natural-childbirth.htm
http://naturalbirthplan.com/
http://www.birthingsupport.org/sample_birth_plan.htm
http://www.mjbovo.com/BirthPlan.htm
Etta Deschamps profile can be found at:
http://www.dominica.dm/site/healthandwellnessresults.cfm?Type=Hypnobirthing
