Birth Planning Template

Start here

How to use this template

A birth plan is how you work out what matters to you about your birth, and how you tell the people who'll be with you.

1. 1Before you startYour rights, how to speak up, and what a birth plan can and can't do.
2. 2Questions to exploreEach part of labour, birth and the first days, with space for your notes and links to read more.
3. 3Making your plansYour notes, turned into short plans for each person caring for you. Then talking them through, and cutting them down.

Take your time with it. This isn't a form to fill in on the way to your 36-week appointment.

Some topics will bring up strong feelings. Others won't matter much to you at all. Both are fine. What you're looking for are the decision points: the moments in labour where one choice makes another more or less likely. Knowing them ahead of time gives you room to think while you still have room.

The questions are open on purpose. They aren't here to steer you toward any particular kind of birth. If something doesn't make sense, that's a sign to learn a little more, not a sign you've done it wrong.

Start with "About you". Jot down a few ideas, work through the rest, then come back to it. Notice what's shifted. Those answers become the few sentences that open your plan, so the people caring for you meet you before they meet your preferences.

Part 1

Before you start

What a birth plan is, what it isn't, and the rights you bring into every room.

What a birth plan is, and isn't

A birth plan is a record of what you've thought through. What you hope for, what you've decided, what you'd like to avoid, and what you need from the people around you.

It isn't a contract. It isn't a guarantee either. Birth doesn't follow paperwork (neither do babies, as you'll soon find out).

It is the start of a conversation. You can change your mind about anything, at any time, including in labour.

Why it's worth doing

The research on birth plans is mixed. The piece of paper on its own doesn't change much. The thinking and the talking that go into it are where the value is.

Planning gives you the chance to:

• learn your options before you're in labour and less able to weigh them
• find out what's usual where you're giving birth, so it doesn't surprise you
• raise anything unusual with your care provider early, while there's time to sort it out
• give your support people something concrete to work from
• feel part of the decisions, whichever way your birth goes

Your rights

In Australia, your rights in pregnancy and labour are the same as at any other time. Being in labour doesn't pause them.

• You decide what happens to your body. An adult who can make their own decisions can say yes or no to any test, examination, procedure or medication. That includes saying no when it's recommended. (NSW Health Consent Manual)
• Consent has to be informed. You're entitled to know what's being offered and why, the benefits and risks, the alternatives (including waiting, or doing nothing), and what happens next if you say no.
• Consent can be taken back. You can say yes and then change your mind. You can also say "not yet".
• You can ask for time. Most decisions in labour aren't emergencies, and there's usually time to talk. In a true emergency you can still ask what's happening, and your support person can ask for you.
• You have the right to respect, information, privacy and partnership in your care, and to give feedback or complain. These are set out in the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights.
• You can have an interpreter. NSW public hospitals provide healthcare interpreters free of charge. In private care, ask your midwife or doctor how they arrange one. Either way, ask early so it's in your notes.
• You can say no to students being present, or to anyone you don't want in the room.
• You can ask for your records, and you can raise a concern with your care provider directly, with the midwifery unit manager or patient liaison if you're in hospital, or with the Health Care Complaints Commission.

If you decline something that's recommended, your care provider will want to talk it through properly, and it will be written in your notes. In a hospital, you may also be asked to speak with a senior midwife or doctor. That's usual practice, not a sign you're in trouble. The NSW Health Consent Manual has a section on pregnancy and birth. It says a woman's right to refuse treatment still applies in pregnancy, and that every health service must have a local policy on it. If you're booked into a hospital, ask for theirs. Queensland Health has also published a clear guideline, Partnering with the woman who declines recommended maternity care, and it's worth reading wherever you live.

Know what's usual for your care

Every hospital, birth centre and private practice has its own way of doing things. In hospitals, most of it is written down in policies, guidelines or "business rules". Private midwives and obstetricians have their own guidelines and usual ways of working too, so ask them the same questions. NSW Health policies are public, and you can search them here. Many local health district policies are public too.

If you'd like to go with the flow, it helps to know what the flow is.

Useful things to ask your midwife or doctor:

• When would you usually recommend induction, and what does that look like here?
• How do you usually monitor the baby in labour?
• How many support people can I have, and can they stay overnight?
• What's your usual practice for the cord and the placenta?
• What happens if I want to do something differently from usual?

NSW Health has also committed to woman-centred care in its maternity blueprint, Connecting, listening and responding. It's worth knowing that's the standard the system has set for itself.

Having the conversation

If you know who'll be at your birth, talk your plan through with them by about 36 weeks. Earlier is fine too. Book it into an antenatal appointment, so it isn't squeezed into the last five minutes.

A few things tend to happen in that conversation.

Some of what worries you turns out to be part of their everyday practice. That's reassuring to hear.

Some of what you want is rarely done where you're birthing. That doesn't mean no. It means it needs a plan: who else needs to know, whether it can be written on your file, and whether a meeting with a senior midwife or obstetrician would help.

Some words mean different things to different people. "Delayed cord clamping" might mean 60 seconds to one person, two or three minutes to another, and waiting until the cord is white and limp to you. Say exactly what you mean, and ask them to say it back.

Ask for your plan to go in your notes, and have copies with you on the day.

Speaking up in labour

Labour isn't the time for long conversations. A few simple tools help.

BRAIN is a short way to think through any suggestion (more on BRAIN).

Words that help

• "Can you tell me why you're suggesting this?"
• "Is this urgent, or do we have time to talk?"
• "Can we have a few minutes on our own to think?"
• "What happens if we wait an hour and check again?"
• "I'd like to wait for now."
• "I don't consent to that."
• "Please tell me before you touch me."

Your support person's job is to help your voice be heard, not to replace it. They can ask the questions, ask for time, remind your care team of your plan, and come back to you before anything is decided. Agree ahead of time on how you'll let them know you need a private word, or that you've changed your mind. A code word works well, especially for pain relief, so there's no confusion between "this is hard" and "I want an epidural now".

Part 2

Questions to explore

Work through these in any order. Skip anything that doesn't matter to you. Each topic has questions to sit with, a space for your notes, and links if you'd like to read further. Most links go to Pregnancy, Birth and Baby, the Australian Government's health information service, or to NSW Health.

Part 3

Making your plans

Now take your notes and turn them into short plans, one for each person or purpose. Your partner doesn't need your cord clamping preferences in their pocket. Your midwife doesn't need to know where the snacks are. Each person gets what helps them help you.

Before you write

• Open with a few sentences about you. Use your answers from "About you". It's the part people remember.
• Lead with what matters most. Pick up to five priorities and put them first.
• Keep it short for people who don't know you. One side of A4 for anyone meeting you for the first time. Dot points.
• Write plainly. "I'd like…", "Please ask me before…", "Please don't offer…", "If this changes, I'd like…"
• Say what you mean. "Wait until the cord stops pulsing" is clearer than "delayed cord clamping".
• Share it. One copy in your file, one in your bag, one on your support person's phone.
• Review it. At 36 weeks, and again if anything changes.