A Doula's Guide to Writing Your Birth Plan

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What is a Birth Plan?

A Birth Plan is a written tool used to communicate your ideal goals and preferences for labor and childbirth to the nursing staff, Doctors and/or Midwives. Whether you are planning to give birth at home or a local Metro Detroit hospital, writing a birth plan will help you learn about the common procedures, policies and options available to you. You create your birth plan on your own, with your partner or with a trusted birth professional such as your Midwife or Birth Doula.

What should you include on your Birth Plan?

There are a variety of topics to cover on your Birth Plan. Below are some ideas to get you started.

  • Prenatal Appointments: Consider your thoughts on ultrasounds, membrane sweeps and testing options.

  • Atmosphere: Think about lighting, your own clothing, amount of residents in the room, etc.

  • Medical Pain relief: Are you interested in an Epidural, pain medications, nitrous oxide, etc.

  • Natural Comfort Measures: Do you want to use aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, massage or herbal support?

  • Inductions: Consider your ideal choices when a non-medical induction is suggested prenatally

  • Labor Augmentation: Learn about and list your preferences on AROM, membrane sweeping, pitocin, castor oil, nipple stim, foley bulb etc.

  • Support People: Who do you want providing support at home and then at the hospital. Do you want to delay visitors after birth?  

  • Fetal monitoring: Whether you want continuous or intermittent fetal monitoring belt or handheld doppler only.

  • Birthing position: Do you want to birth in water, the bed, squatting, on your side, on the floor etc!

  • IV / Heparin Lock: Are you ok with an IV for fluids and administering medications or do you want a Hep Lock or nothing at all.

  • Food and fluids: Make a list of foods and drinks to bring

  • Infant Feeding: Write your goals for breastfeeding or bottle feeding, if you’d like a lactation consultant or want to express colostrum if needed

  • Newborn Care: Consider everything from apgar tests, vaccines and eye ointment, baby’s first bath, pacifier usage, golden hour and swaddling.

  • Cesarean: Even if you aren’t planning one, learn about the options and make a plan for your preferences should one be needed.

  • Postpartum Wing: How do you want your golden hour to look like? Do you want to save your placenta? When do you want to be discharged (if birthing at hospital)?

Things to Consider When Writing Your Birth Plan

When writing your birth plan, use this time to truly learn about the variety of both medical and non-medical options that are available during labor and birth. Keep an open mind and soak up as much information as you can during this stage. Whether you are planning a medicated or natural birth, we recommend taking an out of hospital childbirth education class to learn about the labor stages, pros/cons of interventions , practice comfort measures and positions and more. Your Detroit Birth Doula will then help you hone in on your ideal choices and create a birth plan together during your prenatal visits.

Make sure to review your hospital’s policies and common procedures. Local labor and delivery hospitals will either list their common procedures on their website or you contact the charge nurse and ask. Your Southeast Michigan Birth Doula will always be able to walk you through what policies to expect. Below are just a few of the hospitals that the doulas on our team work at regularly:

  • University of Michigan Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital -Ann Arbor

  • Corewell Health - Beaumont in Troy

  • Corewell Health - Beaumont in Grosse Pointe

  • Henry Ford Jackson

  • Henry Ford West Bloomfield

  • Trinity Health - St. Joseph’s Mercy in Pontiac

  • Memorial Healthcare - Owosso

  • Corewell Health - Beaumont in Royal Oak

  • Ascension - Southfield (Alternative Birthing Center)

Be willing to be flexible. We all have our ideal birth plan, but the reality is that labor and birth don’t always go just like we envision. The goal of a birth plan is to learn about your options, build confidence in your choices and communicate your preferences to your support team. Sometimes we need to pivot and adjust your birth plan along the way. Your Birth Doula will be there to help you feel nurtured, calm and confident even when you need to deter from your original plan.

Ready to get started writing your birth plan?

One of the caring, professional and vetted doulas on the Detroit Dreams team would love to help you learn about your perinatal options and craft a birth plan together.