We view this as more of a guide than a plan, as what you put in it is not necessarily what is going to happen when the main event arrives.

As the name would suggest it is a plan of how you, but more importantly your partner, wants the birth to be. This is not only a plan for you and your partner but also for you to give to your hospital or midwife at the appropriate time. You might think the answer is short and obvious but, hey, that would be easy. You seem to have more options than for the inside of a new car!

Are you having the birth at home or at hospital? Either way do you want a water birth, vaginal birth, caesarean section?

Some hospitals now offer rooms where they try and keep things as natural as possible where, for example, your partner is encouraged to be “mobile”, maybe sit on a birthing ball (that’s a gym ball to us fellas!) to assist with pain relief and / foetal positioning.

What pain relief does your partner want?
Do you both know the effects on both your partner and, possibly, the baby?

Would your partner like to be massaged with specific aromatherapy oils during labour? Does the hospital allow that?

This list is by no means exhaustive but should trigger some discussion with you and your partner. In our opinion, the two people you should talk to about it are your GP and a midwife.

From a medical perspective all of these options may not be available to you so the choice maybe more limited.
For example, if your partner is overweight, has high blood pressure or has a pre-existing medical condition, this could limit your birthing options.

Discussion is important. Ultimately, it is your partner that is going to be giving birth, not you, so she must feel happy with her birthing plan. Equally you need to know what will be involved and what her options are so that you are in a position to support and if you have to go off plan, what her plan B wishes are.
If you want a water birth but end up having a C-section it will definitely help, believe us, if you have at least discussed this.

We laugh here at Yegads because in our office none of our partner’s births went to plan. We still have copies of the plans and our partners take the mic out of each others over a glass of wine or two. The writer who went on all the aromatherapy courses available with his wife only to find that she had an emergency caesarean section. The editor’s wife wanted a natural birth and when the time came she was so drugged up she thought she was back in Ibiza.

Like anything else in life with good planning you have a good chance that things will go well. A planned event should be a good event!!