Birth Plan

A labor and deliver nurse wrote a two-part blog post about how to write a birth plan. Read these posts with your pregnant daughter, discuss them, and then help her write down a birth plan of her own to give to her doctor.

These posts will:
1) Assist you in writing the best birth plan you can by pointing you in the direction of the best resources out there, that she has found, on birth plan writing,
2) Review the true purpose of a birth plan and help you write a birth plan for the right reasons, and
3) Help you navigate through a bureaucratic hospital system often perforated with outdated dogma and run by unofficial “policies” and help you and your labor companions facilitate a positive and empowering birth experience for your whole family!

Writing Your Birth Plan: Tips from An L&D Nurse, Part One
In part one, the nurse talks about what a birth plan is, what types of birth plans are not helpful to mothers and nurses, what types of birth plans are useful and helpful.

Top Ten DOs for Writing Your Birth Plan: Tips from An L&D Nurse, Part Two
In part two, the nurse gives ten tips for writing your birth plan:
1) Keep it simple
2) Be clear
3) Do your research to discover your preferences
4) Include your fears and concerns
5) Review the plan with your nurse/doctor/staff and ask them to sign that they have read it and understood it.
6) Make the plan personal, and understand it so that you can answer questions about it
7) Look at examples online for ideas
8) Imagine different scenarios ahead of time and try to guess what help you would want
9) Try to make the research fun, not a chore
10) Bring the plan with you to the hospital!

We talk about creating a birth plan in the chapter titled "The Baby is Born" in our book "How To Survive Your Teen's Pregnancy".