Birth plans – they tend to divide people, some create detailed pages of information, preferences, for all the various options, they may even be colour coded with colourful sticky tabs for each option (ok, I admit it this is a confession, of my own first birth plan – it was so detailed it even reminded my husband to set the automatic feeder for the cats before leaving the house!), and then there are others who decide to skip the birth plan all together.
“Tear up your birth plan”
Who else has heard this?! I know I did when going into my first birth, even before I knew I was going for an induction, I regularly heard this, and to be honest I considered not doing one at all. And I understand where it comes from, if only we could use a crystal ball to see exactly what our birth would be like, it would be a lot easier to plan. Often this phrase comes from mums who have created plans in the past and their birth changed from what they had initially envisioned.
“Go with the flow”
Should you just abandon the plan then and “go with the flow”? Personally I think it is important to go with the flow, but to me that means, that you are calm as your birth path changes, not that you don’t think through any of your options and preferences.
Focus on your preferences and options
I think people’s attitudes to birth plans become more positive when we talk about birth preferences rather than birth plans. The word plan sounds so much more rigid!
The Important of a Birth Plan / Preferences List
To me creating some kind of plan or preferences list is an important part of birth preparation, here are the main advantages and why I would recommend creating one:
- It gives you a chance to think about your options and the things that are important to you- what are your preferences regarding who is with you in labour, Vitamin K for baby, breastfeeding, etc.?
- Often working through your preferences will bring up questions that you want to know more about, this is a hugely important part of the process to me, doing your own reading and research, discussing with your midwife and birth partner. Doing this research before you go into labour makes it easier to make decision during labour.
- It can help you mentally prepare for changes in your labour, working through mentally and considering all the options and what would be important to you in that scenario, along with discussing this with your birth partner, I feel helps you both prepare.
I think birth preferences are really useful and important for all births, but particularly with induction when it wasn’t something you were expecting, it can be a really proactive way to prepare and to improve your mindset and confidence level. So even if you don’t take it with you on the day, the process of creating the plan or preferences can be beneficial.
Did you make a birth plan? Come and ask and questions you have about birth plans for induction in the Positive Induction Facebook Group.