You need to be flexible and prepared to do things differently from your birth plan if complications arise with you or your baby, or if facilities such as a birth pool aren't available. A birth plan is a record of what you would like to happen during your labour and after the birth. You don't have to create a birth plan but, if you would like one, your midwife will be able to help. You might be given a special form for your birth plan, or there may be room in your notes. It's a good idea to keep a copy of your birth plan with you.

This is a practice where your doctor places gauze swabs in your vagina during the c-section and then rubs them on baby’s face once they are born. This is to give your baby all the same bacteria that they would pass through during a vaginal birth. Your baby would probably require stem cells from someone else rather than their own stem cells if ever needed. However, different hospitals and different countries have different policies about this. Plus, depending on your situation, it may be critical to be monitoring your baby the whole time. So, make sure to find out what the policies are where you are giving birth and be prepared.There are a lot of big decisions to make, and going in with a plan in place, will make it so much easier. Please hold off on any tests, weighing, etc. until after the golden hour and after baby has successfully nursed I have collected here a list of the best online birthing classes (including a free class). Whereas if you want to enroll in a hypnobirthing course, have a look at these online classes or my free hypnobirthing introductory course. If you also want to take a breastfeeding course, there are lots of online courses here (including several free ones). As your pain level increases, and the hormones course through your body, you might have the feeling that you are the most important patient that these medical professionals are assigned to.

Do you see what I mean? Many of these can be upheld whether you labor unmedicated, get an epidural, need labor augmentation, an unplanned C-section, or anything in between! What type of birth interests you?Birth plans aren't required, but they're nice to have, especially if you have specific desires and want a place to make your wishes clear. Making a birth plan may even help you get more comfortable with and prepared for the childbirth process. Even though you can ask for this one when having a c-section as well, we felt too pressured to cut it earlier when my first daughter was born, and were only able to wait the whole time after my vaginal delivery with our second daughter.

With a medical induction, your doctor or midwife will stimulate uterine contractions before labor begins on its own. There are various methods in which this can be done: either by giving you medicines (by mouth, vaginally or intravenously), by separating the amniotic sac from the wall of the uterus (stripping or sweeping of the membranes), or by breaking your waters. This doesn’t mean you can’t have your ideal birth, it just means that sometimes, no matter how much you plan, plans change. March of Dimes. 2021. Make a birth plan. https://www.marchofdimes.org/find-support/topics/planning-baby/your-birth-plan Opens a new window [Accessed October 2021] The extra section for baby tends to make the birth plan a little bit longer, so up to you whether you want to keep it or not. Like for everything else in this natural birth plan template, I have included a lot of preferences – it’s then up to you to decide what you want to keep or discard, or what you want to add. It’s called template and not finished birth plan for a reason 🙂Pre-labor consists of the early signs before labor starts: it means that the body is preparing for real labor, but it’s not quite there yet. It usually consists of irregular uterine tightening or contractions which soften and thin the cervix. Remember that the more simple the birth plan, the easier it will be to follow. What’s a visual birth plan?