You might be wondering if there is a point to having a birth plan for labor, birth and postpartum care for a mother and her baby.  Do the caregivers even look at the plan?  Will making one just set the mother up for disappointment if everything doesn’t work out exactly how she wanted it to?  Is it just a waste of time since birth can’t really be planned?

I tend to feel that creating a birth plan is a great way to educate yourself during your pregnancy about your choices and evaluate the risks and benefits of different interventions.  If you were looking into buying a house or a car, you would look at all the different features, research all your options, ask questions and evaluate the answers before buying one.  So why wouldn’t you have the same approach when it comes to the birth of your child?  However, I also feel that creating a birth plan can be driven by fear of things outside of our control and it is important to be clear about the purpose of a birth plan.

Finding a balanced approach to birth plans can be tricky.  Marsden Wagner describes a birth plan as, “an approach to labor, rather than a term for a specific kind of outcome” (Wagner 1).  He views a birth plan as a tool to be used to work toward a woman-centered childbirth.  Even though many aspects of labor are impossible to plan for, it is still the mother’s right and responsibility to be fully informed about the different types of maternity care available to her.  Pam England is more cautious of birth plans because she feels that it can distract a mother from trusting herself and her body for what she needs at different moments during labor.  “All women ask for the same thing:  respect, dignity and support to birth naturally with minimal routine intervention and no unnecessary separation from the baby” (England 97).

Since birth can’t be planned, it might make more sense to call a birth plan a birth guide.  This better defines what it is- a guide for your support team and caregivers to use along with you while you make decisions during childbirth.  “Remember, your birth plan is a wish list.  Its purpose is not to control birth itself, since birth, as a force of nature, is actually under no one’s control.  Rather the birth plan aims to educate you, help you make decisions and communicate them to your caregivers, and thus, to influence the care you receive” (Wagner 219).

So are birth plans important?  I feel that they are, as long as they are approached with the full knowledge that they are meant to be flexible and the main goal of putting one together is to educate yourself.  Childbirth is such an important time for a mother and it shouldn’t be looked upon lightly.  “Producing a healthy baby is a major goal of birth.  But a successful birth outcome involves so much more than mere survival.  We should not disregard the human impact of childbirth.  Positive laboring experiences set women up to become good mothers and more confident people.  Some people climb mountains or run marathons to find out what they are capable of.  Giving birth presents a comparable opportunity for the woman who decides to become a mother.  It can reveal her to herself and transform her self-image” (Wagner 4).

If you’d like to learn more about the different aspects of care to consider when writing your birth plan and for specifics suggestions for putting your plan together, I will be leading a Create Your Birth Plan class through Mommy Matters Online along with local Fresno doula, Gena Kirby.  Click HERE to schedule a spot for you and your partner today!

Sources Used

England, Pam, and Rob Horowitz.  Birthing From Within.

Wagner, Marsden, and Stephanie Gunning. Creating Your Birth Plan:  The Definitive Guide to a Safe and Empowering Birth.

They all encouraged me to get involved with Childbirth Resource Network (CRN) a network of parents, birth professionals and other service providers in the central San Joaquin Valley. CRN’s goal is to help guide anyone seeking to know more about their options in creating a healthy and happy pregnancy, childbirth, and transition to parenthood.

So I got started right away attending CRN meetings and doing my best to connect with other birth professionals in the area.  In the meantime, I was also working hard to plug away at the other requirements for my doula certification through DONA (Doulas of North America).  For more information on requirements for doula certification, click HERE.

Through Amy, I was able to attend my first birth in June of 2009.  Amy had asked me to be her “back-up” doula since she knew she would be going out of town close to the mother’s due date.  I was able to meet the mother beforehand and get to know her and what she was hoping for in her birth experience.  After attending the birth in June and getting the business part of my doula work set up, I was ready to go.  Things have been moving at a good pace ever since.  I feel blessed to have been present for five births (as of today) as a doula.

In some ways, I had to be very outgoing to get the information I needed to get started.  I had to gather a little from one place, a little from another and glean what I could while trying to maintain organization all at the same time.  A few months ago, I started getting emails and phone calls from other ladies in the area who were wanting to become doulas in the central valley.  They were calling me for some of the same advice that I had been seeking just a short time ago.  I then learned that my doula trainer would be returning to the area in March of 2010 to do another training.  The doula profession seemed to be growing quite suddenly and I found this to be very exciting.

Some of us “veteran” doulas have decided to set up regular doula meetings so we can learn from each other and help the newer ladies get started.  As of now, a directory of sorts is being compiled so that it will be easier to find all the doulas in the area, all in one place.  You can check it out by clicking HERE.

I’ve also started to partner with Mommy Matters Online to do back up for births and to help teach classes.  Mommy Matters offers a wealth of information and resources to pregnant women and new families alike.  I’m proud to partner with the other doulas in this area.  We are all doing what we do for the same reasons- to educate, support and nurture parents as their families evolve.