Don't think you need a birth plan? Think again.

Women having natural births in a hospital often draft birth plans - sort of like a childbirth wish list - to formulate their decisions ahead of time so they can clearly articulate them to the hospital staff.  You might think it’s unnecessary to draft a birth plan for a home birth because you won’t need to fend off an epidural or argue with a nurse over whether you need Pitocin to speed your contractions.  These interventions simply won’t be available to you.  But having a birth plan, even at home, is crucial.

Here’s why:

1. A plan helps everyone get on the same page.

A birth plan documents your preferences: Do you want a water birth? Do you want to eat and drink during labor? What interventions, if any, are you comfortable with? Who will attend your birth? By working with your partner and midwife to develop the plan, you can assure that everyone will have similar expectations going into the birth. Sure, things may change, but at least you have an agreed-upon starting point. It’s far better to work out any differences beforehand.  You can also include instructions for after the birth, such as who’ll be there to help out with the baby and when.

2. Writing a plan helps you visualize your ideal birth.

By thinking about these decisions before labor, you implicitly commit to following through with them. For some reason, when you write your preferences down, they suddenly become more real, and it gives you an opportunity to picture your ideal birth experience. Even if  things don’t turn out the way you imagined, the act of documenting your preferences reinforces your desires and empowers you to make them reality.

3.  It forces you to think about post-natal treatments in advance.

After labor, you’ll be in no condition to decide whether or not you want that Vitamin K injection for your newborn, and your brain may be too foggy to sign an exemption form for antibiotic eye drops. So think about what treatments you may want in advance, research the alternatives, and document your decision in your birth plan. Your can spell out your preferences for the Vitamin K injection, antibiotic eye treatment, the newborn screening blood test, vaccines, and circumcision. 

4.  If you need to transfer to a hospital, a birth plan will help you advocate for your preferences.

Depending on the circumstances of your transfer, you still may want to pursue a natural birth.  And don’t think just because you’re going to the hospital, you’re doomed to a c-section.  You don’t lose all control.  You don’t check your rights at the door. Your birth plan can include preferences about Pitocin administration, epidurals, fetal heart monitoring, and episiotomies.  And you should make clear to the hospital staff that you want to be able to approve all interventions, from inserting an IV line to upping the Pitocin dose. 

5.   A birth plan has all the important information in one place.

You don’t want to be scrambling for the midwife’s phone number or frantically Googling the nearest hospital in the throes of labor. Your birth plan should contain all the critical pieces of information:  names and phone numbers for your midwife, doula, back-up obstetrician, pediatrician, and emergency contact. You can also include phone numbers, addresses, and maps to the nearest emergency room and your back-up hospital (which may be different).

For tips on putting together a birth plan, click here.