Birth Planning: Crafting a Positive Experience in 4 Steps

Creating a birth plan is a recommended practice for expectant parents. It serves as an invaluable guide for navigating the unpredictable journey of childbirth, helping parents communicate their preferences, fears, and expectations. The term “birth plan” is sometimes misunderstood and is not intended to be an inflexible rulebook but rather a flexible guide for expressing wishes concerning the birthing process. It’s important to teach parents that having such a plan is a pathway to empowered, informed choices rather than rigid demands.

When teaching or working with clients, following the four steps outlined serve as a valuable framework to help parents understand their priorities and take action on the birth plans.

Step 1: Reflect on Your Vision and Feelings

Before diving into details, exploring broader feelings and visions about birth is pivotal. It is essential to establish a safe, open environment for parents to discuss their aspirations and fears. Guiding parents through reflective inquiries helps them understand their emotions and formulate their birth vision.

Here are a few questions you can use to engage your clients in this process:

• Do you have a vision for what you want your birth to be like?
• When you think about giving birth, how do you feel?
• Are there any important things you want or don't want to happen during delivery?

Ensure that discussions around birth are framed within the context of evidence-based decision-making, enlightening parents on how medical interventions can, in some scenarios, mitigate risks, yet in others, they may pose additional risks, particularly if administered inappropriately.

Step 2: Understanding Your Options and Preferences

In this step, clarifying the distinctive paths one can take during labor is essential. There are fundamentally two choices: a natural, minimally intervened birth and a medically managed one. To illuminate these options in class, using practical examples and narratives can be exceptionally enlightening.

• Showcase Diverse Experiences: Utilize videos to display a variety of birth experiences.
• Share Birth Stories: Allocate time to read or assign succinct, insightful birth narratives.
• Incorporate Real-life Experiences: Invite previous students to recount their personal birth journeys.
• Discuss Medical Interventions: Open a dialogue about common medical interventions and the contexts in which they might be necessary.

Following this, facilitate a discussion to aid parents in identifying the approach most aligned with their preferences:

• Natural or Low-Intervention Birth: Would you prefer this? (briefly discuss what this entails.)
• Medically Managed Birth: Is this more your speed? (provide a brief summary of this approach.)
• Thoughts on Medical Interventions: How do you feel about them? Are there any you'd rather avoid? Or any you believe would aid your birth experience?
• Environment and Amenities: Are there specific features of your birthing place that you find crucial or extremely helpful?
• Newborn Care Options: Are there any procedures you prefer to delay or decline post-birth?
• Your Birth Team: Have you considered your choice of care provider (usually a doctor or midwife) and who will support you during labor (partner, friends, family, doula)? Do you feel well-supported?

Step 3: Take Action

The next step is creating the ideal birthing environment! Connecting with a supportive team facilitates a positive and healthy birth experience.

Explore Relevant Resources

Direct parents to informative blogs or articles about assembling a supportive birth team and creating an optimal birthing environment. The correct information can empower them to make well-informed decisions.

Create a Supportive Environment

A supportive environment is pivotal. Help parents reflect on their current choices and whether these align with their aspirations and needs. Facilitate discussions around the following points:

• Open Conversations with Care Providers: Have parents had open, honest dialogues about their birth plans with their providers?
• Provider’s Attitude: When parents talk to their provider, do they feel heard and supported, or do they sense dismissiveness or a lack of support for their goals?
• Knowledge of the Birth Place: Have parents toured their chosen birthplace, and how content are they with their choice? Are there aspects they wish were different?

Reevaluate if Necessary

If the situation doesn't feel right, encourage parents to explore other options. Prompt them to interview other providers and even offer referrals to healthcare providers who may align better with their birth goals. Adjustments at this stage can significantly impact the birth experience, making it more harmonious with their desires and expectations.

Remember, it’s about helping parents in their journey to have the most comfortable and reassuring birthing experience possible! Keep conversations open, engaging, and supportive to empower them in their choices.

Step 4: Turn Vision into Action

Turning visions into action is pivotal when approaching birth. Open, clear, and direct communication with the birth team is vital. It's important to guide parents in crystallizing their birth visions and articulating their preferences effectively.

Promote Proactive Communication

Encourage parents to voice their goals, questions, and preferences during prenatal visits. Whether they prefer writing them in a birth plan or creating visual reminders like photos or artwork to display in the birthing room, it’s all about what makes them feel empowered and heard.

Role Play Scenarios

Initiate role plays for a few scenarios where parents can practice positive and assertive communication. This helps in building their confidence to express their needs and wishes effectively.

Remind Parents to:

• Be Clear and Respectful: Direct, honest, and respectful communication with care providers is essential.
• Prioritize Topics: Concentrate on the most crucial topics or questions to maintain focus during discussions.
• Stay Informed Yet Flexible: While being well-educated about choices is crucial, adaptability is critical as unexpected situations might arise.
• Use BRAIN for Decisions: When making decisions, weigh the Benefits, Risks, and Alternatives, follow Intuition, and consider the option to Do Nothing.

Acknowledge the Unpredictability of Birth

Remind parents that birth is inherently unpredictable, and no amount of planning can ensure things will go exactly as planned. However, being well-prepared, possessing effective communication skills, and having a supportive birth team can make any experience significantly more positive.

Provide Resources for More Information

For those keen on learning more, our Birth Choices workbook offers an engaging and interactive journey. Paired with the Birth Choices PowerPoint slides and included teaching guide, you can easily incorporate this essential topic into your classes.

Let's empower parents to be active participants in their birth journey, making informed and conscious choices every step of the way!

Amber Canaan, Copywriter & Marketing Consultant, R.N.

Disclaimer: All content provided is for educational and informational purposes only, and should not be construed as medical advice. These statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease and no alterations in exercise should be taken solely on the contents of this website. Consult your physician on any topics regarding your health and fitness. Plumtree Baby, LLC does not assume any liability for the information contained herein, be it direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary or other damages.

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