The Best Birth Plan: Part 2

Last week we started a conversation about Birth plans, and today, I’ll go over the most important things to consider. If you missed it, here’s a link: The Best Birth Plan

Communicating with your OB or midwife

If you’re reading this, you probably have a progressive OB provider and are delivering in a progressive and up-to-date hospital. By progressive, I mean that they actually listen to you, they answer questions, and explain what you might experience during your pregnancy and in labor.

If this is not the case, or you need more information, consider reading my Personal Guide to Pregnancy, which has been used by close to 1 million pregnant women to navigate their way through one of the most vulnerable times in their lives.

Calling all Nurses

If you are a L & D nurse, midwife, OB or doula, we all want to hear from you about what works and what doesn’t with birth plans.

Healthy Baby & Mom

Everyone’s goal is to have a healthy baby and a healthy mom

and to help a mom retain as much control as possible in a situation where just about anything can happen. Every birth is a magical and unique experience; there are some things that are common and yet the professionals that are with you have to be prepared for the unexpected and unusual.

Researching Birth Plans

When it comes to researching birth plans, you’ll be learning a lot about what happens in labor and delivery:

• 1st, you may be surprised at the sheer number of choices and options that might be available at each stage of the birth journey.

• There’s no perfect way to experience labor and delivery. The perfect outcome is when mom and baby are healthy and you can handle whatever happens.

• Flexibility is helpful – I like what Sarah McMoyler says about being flexible

• By familiarizing yourself with birth plans, and sharing your preferences with your provider, you can help them understand what’s important to you.

Your top priorities

Consider reviewing, customizing and downloading one of the many birth plans from any of the pregnancy websites you like. Think about what’s important to you. What’s top of your list?

Have you started Kick counts yet? Click here for a free download of my Kick Count Record with easy to follow instructions.

Check back next week for part 3 of our series!