4 Easy Tips for Creating your Birth Plan and Postpartum Plan

Congratulations on your pregnancy! We hope it is going well. You are probably running around between doctor visits, family time, maintaining your home and preparing for your little one’s arrival. It can all be pretty exhausting. Time to take some time for yourself while also keeping productive. Why don’t you curl up on the sofa and think about whether you want a birth plan and a postpartum plan, and if so, how you want to create it. This article has a few suggestions on things you might want to include when creating your perfect birth and postpartum plan.

Medical Information

This might sound a bit odd as the hospital will have your medical notes, but it is always worth having some medical info down on paper.

Here are some things you might want to note down…

Allergies – both food and medicine allergies. You might know them and some of your medical team might know them but to have quick access to your known allergies in a pinch could be a lifesaver.

Pain relief – the what, the how and the when. Do you want medicinal help from the get-go? Would you prefer to try natural but have the option of pain relief? Do you know what pain relief you would prefer? Get it all in your birth plan.

Afterbirth – are you keeping donating or privately storing the placenta? Are you planning a lotus birth? Are you delaying cord clamping? Make a note of what you want so that you, your birth partner, and your doctors have a quick reference point.

Emergency contact – always good to have someone there on the end of the phone should you need them.

Anything you might want to include relating to anything medical, add it in!

Things You Need

Maybe a list for your birth partner or simply for your reference can prevent forgetting something vital. There is no harm in including a list of what you need in your birth bag, what you need to take with you on the day, what you require from other people etc. This can be anything like medications you need, clothes you need to take, chargers, cameras and various other bits and pieces.

The necessary important items that could go forgotten should be on this list so that at any time you can check everything before the big day.

Things You Want

These are more like things that you can request. Yoga balls, type of lighting, birth pools etc might require a bit of planning and/or might need some level of compromise depending on the circumstances.

Check with your hospital about whether you can play music out loud or need headphones or if you can close the blinds or adjust the lighting level and anything else you might want. Once you have confirmation of what’s available to you, add it to the plan.

Flexibility

Just like everything in life, you will need to be a little flexible with your birth and postpartum plan. On the day, circumstances might change meaning you have to adapt and replan in a short space of time. Treat your birth plan as how you would like the day to go under optimal conditions but perhaps factor in some plan bs or just be ready in case something else happens.

Wishing you all the best with your pregnancy and of course on the big day.