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Here are our tips for making your birth
plan really work for you.
Use your draft birth plan to check
whether your caregivers are a good match for you. Your draft plan can
get a dialogue going with your caregiver. If you are finding, however, that
he or she is not comfortable with many of the points you wanted to put into
your plan, you may need to find a caregiver who is a better match for you
and who shares your views, or you may need to decide to accept your
caregiver's philosophy and not rely on a birth plan. It is usually not
possible to use a birth plan to "make" your caregivers agree to things they
are not comfortable doing. For instance, if you don't want an episiotomy but
your doctor usually cuts them for most women, it is unlikely a birth plan
will make your doctor change his practice. See also our pages on
choosing a caregiver and
questions to ask your caregiver, and on
choosing a place of birth.
Once you feel you have a good mutual
understanding with your caregivers, your birth plan takes on its second role
as a record of your intentions that the medical staff can refer to.
When writing your plan, remember your ABC's:
Assertive
Remember to keep your language assertive - polite but clearly
stating what you want. Use phrases like "I am planning" and "I would like"
rather than "if it is ok" or "I would prefer".
Brief
Keep it short. If you need to spell out a long list
of points, you may not be with the right caregiver. If most of the things
you want aren't things your caregiver is used to doing (in which case you
don't need to put them in a birth plan!), you are unlikely to get them. For
maximum effectiveness, keep your birth plan to a single page.
Clear
Be specific. Avoid words and phrases such as "not
unless necessary" or "keep to a minimum." What one person thinks is
"necessary" is not what another does. What one person defines as the minimum
is not what the next person does. Instead, use numbers or specific
situations, for example: "I am happy to have 20 minutes of electronic
monitoring and if all is well then intermittent monitoring every hour for
five minutes after that" or "I am happy to have a vaginal examination on
arrival in hospital and after that every four hours or on my request."
See also:
Choosing a caregiver
Questions to ask your caregiver
Choosing a place of birth
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