Write a Birth Plan

A birth plan can be an incredibly useful tool that makes it easier to communicate with your caregivers, or it can be a worthless piece of paper and a big waste of time!

Steps

 * 1) Use your birth plan to express your preferences - it should be a guideline, not a fixed plan. There is no way of knowing how things will proceed in your labor and you may need to divert from what you planned.
 * 2) * The main purpose of the birth plan is to help the nurses and doctors caring for you understand a little about you - if you are having your baby in the hospital you probably will not have met anybody there before, except perhaps your doctor or midwife if you have chosen midwifery care. Let the birth plan be personal so they understand who you are and what is important to you.
 * 3) Remember to keep your language assertive - polite but clearly stating what you want. Use phrases like "I am planning" and "I would like" rather than "if it is ok" or "I would prefer".
 * 4) Keep it short. If you need to spell out a long list of points, you may not be with the right caregiver. If most of the things you want aren't things your caregiver is used to doing (in which case you don't need to put them in a birth plan!), you are unlikely to get them. For maximum effectiveness, keep your birth plan to a single page.
 * 5) Be specific. Avoid words and phrases such as "not unless necessary" or "keep to a minimum." What one person thinks is "necessary" is not what another does. What one person defines as the minimum is not what the next person does. Instead, use numbers or specific situations, for example: "I am happy to have 20 minutes of electronic monitoring and if all is well then intermittent monitoring every hour for five minutes after that" or "I am happy to have a vaginal examination on arrival in hospital and after that every four hours or on my request."
 * 6) Have your doula review the plan before you have your doctor review it. Then have your doctor sign it.  Request a copy be placed in your file, also there should be a few signed copies brought to the hospital.  Then there is always an extra copy should a nurse coming on shift need to be updated on what is on your personal plan.
 * 7) State your intentions for instrumental deliveries.
 * 8) * Forceps delivery -  Your consent will be asked for first.    You will be given a local anaesthetic or a block,  if one/epidural isn't already in place.   Your legs will be put in stirrups.  The forceps look like salad tongs and will be inserted into the vagina one at a time, an episiotomy will be done, the head extracted and once the head is delivered, the forceps are taken off and the rest of the delivery done in the manual method.
 * 9) * Ventouse delivery -  Similar to forceps, but less traumatic,  your consent will be asked for first.   You will have your legs in stirrups and the head will be sucked out with the ventouse device.   A ventouse cup is either plastic or metal.   Episiotomy is not always done with this delivery.
 * 10) * Trial of forceps/ventouse -  A forceps or ventouse delivery will be tried out (this will be done in theatre).   If the forceps/ventouse delivery is unsuccessful,  they will deliver the baby by cesarean.

Tips

 * There are always unexpected things that come up during labor. Keep in mind that your birth plan is a guide, not a rigid blueprint.
 * If you have found a good match in your caregiver and your place of birth, you will be more likely to find your birth plan still works and is not "tossed out the window" at the first opportunity.
 * Make sure to bring several copies of your birth plan to your hospital / birth center, or to have on hand if you are having a home birth.
 * If you choose to have a natural, un-medicated birth, and all of a sudden you find yourself screaming in pain, it's not a crime to alter your birth plan as necessary.

Related

 * How to Choose a Doula
 * How to Create a Pregnancy Memory Album
 * How to Choose a Caregiver for Pregnancy

Sources and Citations

 * http://www.findadoula.com