Plan for the best outcome, but expect the unexpected.
There are so many forms to fill out during your pregnancy. From Medicare forms to Family Assistance Office forms, health insurance forms and hospital pre-admission forms - life can seem like a constant procession of paperwork. There is one document though which is more interesting than most - your birth plan!
What is it?
Well, firstly a birth plan isn't a record of how your baby's birth will proceed; rather it is a record of your birth preferences, covering issues such as the type of birth you would like, the people who will be in attendance, and your preferred medication options. It can be a fantastic communication tool for your healthcare professionals - particularly at a time when you may be quite preoccupied!
Melissa Maimann, founder of Essential Birth Consulting, is a Sydney-based private midwife and spends a great deal of time talking her clients through their birth plan options. "A well set out birth plan is a really good way for a woman to communicate with her care providers about what is important to her in relation to the birth," she says. "This can be particularly important for women who may not have met all of their care providers before going into labour. Depending on where you give birth and the length of your labour you might have several different midwives looking after you at various points in time and each of those midwives might be in and out of your room, looking after other women as well. A well-presented birth plan can help all of these carers to see at a glance what your stated preferences are."
What goes in it?
What goes in to a birth plan depends on what is important to you personally about the birth. As such, every woman's birth plan will be different. Some of the common inclusions though are:
- Birth companions. The people who will be with you throughout your labour might include your doula, partner, parents or other friends.
- Environment. Do you want the lighting dimmed? Aromatherapy oils? Particular music? Anything that is important to you about your environment can be included in your plan.
- Pre-delivery activities. Some people wish to keep as active as possible during their labour, others may prefer to be resting as much as possible. Any special items, such as a bean bag, fitball or birthing pool that you particularly want could be listed here.
- Medical monitoring. You may wish to be constantly monitored or to reduce your monitoring and examination to a minimum.
- Pain relief. There are many pain relief options, including breathing exercises, gas, pethedine and epidural. You may wish to outline which pain relief options you are willing to try, and in what preferred order.
- Preferred delivery position. While you may change your mind at the time, you might want tor record your preferred birthing position.
- Any procedures that you would like to avoid if possible. Some examples might include induction, rupture of the membranes, use of forceps.
- Post-birth procedure. Cord-cutting, skin-to-skin contact, specialist examinations and immunization could all be covered in your birth plan.
How to write it.
As well as spending plenty of time researching your birth options, Melissa Maimann stresses the importance of presenting them in an easy-to-read way, so that your busy medical carers can understand at a glance the things that are important to you. "Putting together a birth plan is almost like doing an assignment," says Melissa. "Although it is the result of hours of research and preparation, the end result should be short and concise and well laid out."
Melissa advises that a birth plan should be one to two pages maximum - otherwise the midwives may not have time to read it all. "Also, pick out the top three things that are the most important of all to you and put those in bold writing at the top of the birth plan," suggests Melissa. "That way even if the whole plan doesn't get read, hopefully those most important things will. Set it out neatly and make it easy to read with clear headings and bullet points."
Who should have one?
Everyone! Birth can be unpredictable but just the exercise of researching your options and deciding what your preferences are is a great experience - and usually it will happen. "Even if you are intending to have a cesarean you should still have a birth plan to cover issues such as lighting, skin to skin contact and feeding, says Melissa Maimann. "In my experience, ninety-five percent of what a woman wants happens when the birth plan is reasonably open and flexible."
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