You have always made plans in your life up until this juncture and so it makes perfect sense that you would want to put a plan in place for when you get pregnant and you’re going through labour and then the birth. Nobody wants to be going through any important procedures such as this without knowing exactly what lies ahead and it gives you an important sense of control that every mother and father should have. Even though we may make plans, sometimes life throws you a bit of a curveball and things don’t turn out as you thought they would. It does make sense however to write down what it is that you expect to occur during your pregnancy and a plan is especially important for a father to be so that he feels a part of the whole thing.
It is fair to say that your plans will change over time and this is perfectly normal because couples change their minds about many things. Many people are not sure if Birth planning is a good idea and so maybe it might make sense to talk to your doctor or midwife about such things. The point of the whole birth plan is to provide you with some kind of focus so that you can prioritise things that are important during your pregnancy. It really depends on you when you want to start making plans, but the sooner the better as they say. There are a number of things that you might want to include in your overall birth plan and the following are some essential tips for that.
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- A hospital checklist – When your waters break and the time comes to go to the hospital, if you haven’t made a plan then everyone is going to be running around with no idea about what they are doing. There are some essential things that have to go to the hospital with you and so it is always better to plan beforehand so that nothing is left behind and this is an essential tip.
- Pain relief – All new mothers are different and while some want pain relief to be provided during the labour stages, others do not. You need to talk to your midwife or doctor about this because it is incredibly important and even though you would like to have as natural birth as possible, there is a significant amount of pain to go through when having a baby.
- Essential partner support – You can make a plan about who you would like to have with you when you’re actually in labour and having your baby. You need to talk to your partner about where you want to have your baby because some mothers want to have the baby at home and some mothers would like to experience a water birth
You also need to think about how you would like to feed your baby and if you would like breastfeeding to be part of that procedure. There are also the many positions that you might want to consider when in labour and giving birth.