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Beautiful Birth Doula Services Serving families throughout Wisconsin emily@beautifulbirth.org (920) 219-2223
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Our Birth Experience (Our Names) Date
Our Philoshopy We have prepared this Birth Plan to help you understand our philosophy and the kind of care we hope to have for the birth of our child. The pregnancy has gone very well thus far. We have been careful to eat well and stay fit, and have done everything we can to prepare for a healthy and uncomplicated birth. We have chosen (Health Care Provider/s ie: “Associated Physicians” or “UW Midwives”), because they share our desire for a low-intervention birth and respect our need for good communication. We wish for as natural a birth as possible, avoiding unnecessary procedures and medications. However, if medications or procedures become necessary, we ask that you discuss them with us in advance so that we can participate in the decision making. Our Health Care Provider, (________________), has read this plan and hopes to support our wishes as much as possible.
Our Support Team Over the past months, we have built a strong birth team of myself, my partner, and our doula, Emily Shier. We chose a doula we felt would work well with our doctors and nurses, while providing continuous support on a very personal level We want to remain together at all times during the labor and birth (vaginal or cesarean).
Our Choices We hope to avoid routine procedures, participating in procedures only if they are specifically indicated and discussed with us in advance. If procedures or medications are proposed, we ask that you discuss them with us and suggest alternative therapies or comfort measures so that we can make well-informed decisions.
We plan to keep the number of vaginal examinations to a minimum.
This is our first birth experience and we prefer to not work with students or residents; we appreciate the need for learning and practice and we hope to support the needs of the teaching hospital next time, as more seasoned parents. Please respect our wish and do not put us in a position to send people away while we are in labor and birthing.
Because we want labor to progress at a natural pace, we hope to avoid artificial induction or augmentation of labor (e.g., amniotomy, stripping of membranes, Pitocin). We would also like to avoid an episiotomy and try perineal support or hot compresses instead.
We would like to have the option of eating and drinking, ability to try many different pain coping techniques, trying different labor positions, and use of the tub for pain relief in labor.
As long as things are progressing well, we prefer intermittent monitoring with an external fetal monitor. We very much want to avoid internal fetal monitoring unless it is specifically medically indicated.
We would like to keep the room as calm as possible, avoiding small-talk and traffic in and out.
We would like to have a mirror placed so that mother can watch the birth (when asked), and, if things are progressing well, mother would like to touch the baby's head as it begins to crown. I do not want a routine injection of Pitocin; if I am having difficulty passing the placenta, I would like to try non-medicinal options first (like putting the baby to breast, squatting, etc.). If Pitocin is indicated, please discuss this with me or my partner.
If a cesarean-section is necessary, I would like my husband to accompany me. I do not want general anesthesia unless it is an emergency and is necessary. I would like skin-to-skin contact with the baby after s/he is born. I would like the opportunity to speak with my doctor and the operating team about having my doula accompany me, in addition to my partner.
Our Baby Please wait until the umbilical cord stops pulsating before cutting it.
It is very important to us to hold and nurse our baby immediately after birth, and to have the weighing done in our room so that we can participate. If this is not possible, we would like to have father stay with the baby at all times. Also, we ask that you discuss any routine neonatal procedures, including the baby’s first bath, with us before they are performed.
We refuse the eye drops and any vaccinations within the first 24 hours of our baby’s birth. We will discuss these procedures with our pediatrician- please do not question our choice. We understand the risks and benefits and are willing to sign the appropriate paperwork to decline these.
We plan to exclusively breastfeed our baby, and therefore request that s/he not be given bottles, water, formula, or a pacifier.
If we have a boy, we will not have him circumcised.
Thank you! We thank you for taking the time to go over this Birth Plan, and appreciate your cooperation in getting our new family off to great start.
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I have always suggested having a written birth plan– and if someone tells you that it’s going to be disregarded as soon as you walk in the hospital, you may want to rethink your choice of birth place. Birth is unpredictable and all of your wishes may not come true, but this will give everyone supporting you an idea of what you are hoping for and it allows you and your partner (and your doula!) to have something to fall back on if you forget details.
We can sit down as a team and work on this during one of our prenatal meetings, I’m happy to give feedback if you draft something up, you can use what you already have, or you can jot your thoughts down on notebook paper. The most important component is that you spend some time reflecting on what you want in your birth experience and communicating it, in advance, with your birth team.
Many hospitals have templates on their websites, you can find generic ones with many options and great explanations of procedures on the web (such as www.birthplan.com), and there are ideas in childbirth books.
It can look like a resume, a letter, or a checklist.
My role is to support your wishes, not question them, so do not worry about what I think– only that I am familiar with your hopes & dreams!
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Here’s a very detailed one that a recent birth family used: |
