Working out your birth plan
Giving birth is less daunting if you have an easy birth plan in mind to help the day go as smoothly as possible. See our birth plan guide below.
Checklist
- Think about where you’d like to give birth. Home, hospital or birth center.
- Consider how you want to deliver your child.
- Consider what kind of pain relief you’d like, if any.
- Talk to your healthcare provider (HCP) about skin-to-skin after birth.
- Talk to your HCP about lotus birth — keeping the placenta attached to your child once delivered.
- Talk to your HCP about interventions like ventouse and forceps.
- Consider where and how a birth partner can offer support.
- Share the birth plan with your birthing partner — maybe they can help write it.
- Consider any equipment you might like to use during labour: mats, beanbags, bars, balls, stools, and so on…
- Think about whether you’d like a water birth, if that is an option.
- Talk to your HCP if you have questions about Caesarean sections.
- Discuss how your child will be monitored during labor.
- Discuss any other birth plan options and preferences with your HCP.
- A natural birth is the ideal form of delivery, as long as there are no health complications. But of course, things don’t always go to plan, so it’s best to keep an open mind. What matters most is for you and your little one to be healthy.
- Once you’ve got your birth plan sorted, you can start thinking about what you’ll need to pack. See our Hospital bag checklist for help.
Related articles
6-Week pregnant: Development and diet
Your child’s growth is in overdrive right about now. So many exciting developments on such a tiny little being! Read more about this week.
2 mins to read
39-Week pregnant: Development and diet
You might have felt a few contractions already and were wondering if that was “it”. Don’t worry, you won’t miss the start of labour! Read more about this next to last week.
3 mins to read
C-section recovery: Things to think about
As with any surgery, C-section recovery takes time and self-care. Here are some things to have in mind to help you heal, from C-section recovery time to cleaning C-section incisions.
2 mins to read
7-Week pregnant: Development and diet
Your unborn child is already a pretty impressive 18 mm long. Though you won’t feel it yet, she’s on the move. Read more about this week.
2 mins to read
23-Week pregnant: Development and diet
Your child’s feet are now 4.5 to 5cm in length now, and she weighs considerably over 700g. You have got around 16 more weeks to go! Read more about this week.
3 mins to read
5 ways to reduce your child’s chances of having allergies
Find out how breastfeeding from birth and beyond and taking certain probiotics may also help reduce your child’s allergy risks
5 mins to read
Diet for Pregnancy
Pregnancy can be a wonderful period of discovery and learning for parents, especially if it’s the first child.
3 mins to read
18-Week pregnant: Development and Diet
Lots of leaps and bounds happening in week 18, from nerve cells multiplying to the beginnings of fingerprints. Read more about this week.
3 mins to read
34-Week pregnant: Development and diet
Things are slowing down a little in your belly now. That’s because everything is getting close to being developed! Your little one is around 45 cm long and weighs well over 2 kilos.
2 mins to read
10 Early Signs of Pregnancy
For the young families who are planning for pregnancy, it can be an exciting challenge and experience to look forward to.
4 mins to read
13-Week Pregnant: Development and Diet
The start of your second trimester is the start of lots of new development milestones for your unborn child. Read more about this week.
2 mins to read
29-Week pregnant: Development and diet
As you inch your way towards the finish line – you will be giving birth in about ten weeks! – your little one is still growing by leaps and bounds, even opening her eyes wide now.
2 mins to read
40-Week pregnant: Development and diet
Time’s up! If he hasn’t already, your little darling will arrive in the next few days. And then you will be a mother at last! Read more about this week.
2 mins to read
3 Tips to Overcome Fatigue during Pregnancy
Much like the wind changes direction, the journey of motherhood is filled with ups and downs.
4 mins to read
8-Week pregnant: Development and diet
About the size of a robin’s egg, your little one measures about 30 mm long. Learn more about this week.
3 mins to read
24-Week pregnant: Development and diet
Can you feel your little one reacting to noises and your caresses yet? Towards the end of the second trimester is when some women report that this starts to happen, so be on the lookout.
3 mins to read
Signs of Baby blues vs postpartum depression
Wondering how to know if I have postnatal depression? You’ve just birthed a human, your whole has been turned upside down, and you haven’t slept for what feels like an age.
5 mins to read
Pregnancy: The Start of Loving and Protecting
The moment you know another being is growing inside your body, your maternal instincts are awakened.
4 mins to read
19-Week pregnant: Development and Diet
Your little lodger weighs between 300 and 400 grams – weigh a grapefruit in your hand and that’s about how heavy your child is. Read more about this week.
3 mins to read
Related tools
Ovulation calendar
Determine when you are likely to ovulate can improve your chances of conceiving.
Naming Your Little One
Search the perfect name for your child
Pregnancy week
Find out what changes you can expect in your body, your emotions, your life and your little one.
