Diana was told by a friend that creating a Birth Plan would make the delivery time easier for everyone involved. She is looking for some guidance in understanding what exactly a Birth Plan entails and if it’s necessary to make one.
“Yesterday my friend asked if I had my Birth Plan ready. I was a bit embarrassed, as I didn’t know what it was. From my understanding, it’s a plan explaining my delivery preferences, my wishes if something were to go wrong, etc.... So now I am trying to create my Birth Plan and I don’t know where to begin or what’s important to include. It seems a bit pointless to write a Birthing Plan because I know that anything is possible when I go into labour, so…why make a ‘plan’? I also have communicated my preferences and wishes to both my doctor and husband during my pregnancy appointments. I trust my doctor and my husband to carry out my wishes, so I have to wonder, is a Birth Plan really all that necessary? On second thought, I might need some sort of back-up plan just in case my husband decides he’s not cut out for the delivery, while I’m having the baby!
It would be helpful to know if other expecting mum’s have created a birth plan (or not) and what they included. I’m not really keen on writing an endless essay on my thoughts and feelings about it all. If only I knew the most useful and appropriate information to include”
Did you have a Birth Plan? Or did you decided not to have one? Either way we like to hear from you here. If you did have one, what did you include and was it helpful? If you decided not to write a Birth Plan we’d like to hear your reasons. By answering a few questions here we can help Diana and other mums decide if they should write a Birth Plan and what they need to include.