Creating a birth plan proved time-consuming and thought provoking. I didn’t expect this to be the case.

After months of consuming information from a number of sources, I thought I could quickly list what I wanted to happen during labor and delivery.

I want some drugs, but not too many. I want to bond with my baby immediately. I want the experience to be as peaceful and memorable as possible.

But there’s more to it than that.

I visited a handful of Web sites and checked out sample birth plans. I finally selected two sites, mjbovo.com and childbirth.org, completed the online forms and emailed myself two plans. I then merged the two together into a customized birth plan that includes everything that I think my family and the hospital staff will need to know.

I am sure the physicians and nurses have seen it all before, and my one-of-a kind plan is probably just a dime a dozen. But creating it helped me organize my thoughts and the information I accumulated during pregnancy.

Loss of control - of myself and my decisions - is frightening and having the plan is reassuring. I can print it out, highlight certain points that I want my husband to note, and others that will be important to his parents and my mother, and hand it out to my hospital entourage.

I can revise it, share it with friends and in general attempt to exercise some control over this time in my life. And at this point, when my due date looms but could come at any time, control is a good thing.

A couple of readers have already commented about birth plans in general and I would like more feedback. Let me know what I am leaving out, and what’s unreasonable.

CLICK READ MORE TO CHECK OUT MY BIRTH PLAN

Posted by Nicole McMullin in • Parenting • New Momma
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