Have You Written a Birth Plan?

I went to visit the Midwives’ Office today and had my “birth plan” with me. Probably 5 or 6 weeks ago I met with one of the Midwives and she asked me if I had one and assured me that they would make every attempt to honor my birth plan if I provided it to them.

Well, I thought this was a wonderful idea.  So, shortly after, I sat down with several large index cards and began writing my birth plan. It was pretty simple. I decorated the top of the page for our fourth baby and wrote on the top that this was a plan with “lots of flexibility.”

The plan is simple:
I want a quiet space to labor with not a lot of chit chat.
I will bring my own music.
I want to try laboring in the tub.
I want to labor naturally with no epidural and no other medications.
I want to be able to move around as much as possible and be monitored intermittently.
I want to have the most support from my husband and depend on him.
I want to have it recorded from a non-invasive area in the room. (behind me somewhere where my husband doesn’t need to hold the camera.)

I think that completes the list. I’ve been carrying my “plan” around with me for weeks. Today, I remembered to give it to the Midwife I met with so she could make a copy and put in my chart. She was so touched and emotional about it. She said that she had never seen a handwritten birth plan. At first I thought she just meant that most people typed them up or had them on their iphones or blackberrys. But, she meant that people didn’t write them at all. She said most of the birth plans she saw were printed from a website and often times the mother hadn’t read the birth plan before bringing it to the midwife. This kind of surprised me. I didn’t really think that I had done anything particularly special.

But, she did. And, she was moved by it and asked if she could make a few copies of it to inspire others. I was happy to let her do that.

I feel really positive about my birth plan, because I know that it is just my plan and not God’s. And therefore, I don’t feel tied down to it. But, it does help me to have some kind of idea of how things may go. And, in the end, I’ll just go with the flow.

I hope you are all doing well. I know it won’t be long now until I am reporting labor and then the arrival of our precious baby boy! Good night, friends.