Birth plan and preferences
What are you preferences for labour?
Would you prefer to stay active? Would you like help with different positions? Help and encouragement to use your relaxed breathing? Who are your birth partners? Would you like to be kept informed of how labour is progressing? Do you want a long cuddle with your baby when he is born?
These preferences are personal to you but the key elements could include:
- Birth support – working as a team with your midwife
- Positions – staying active but comfortable and rested
- Pain relief
- Third stage – do you have any preference about how the delivery of your placenta is managed?
- Meeting your baby – how do you want to find out about the sex of your baby, do you want to have a cuddle straight away, do you want to dress your baby yourself?
Use your birth preferences as a way of communicating basic information to your midwife because you may not feel like talking or communicating effectively when you get to hospital. And it’s certainly not going to do any harm!
