Birth plans are a way of letting everyone involved in your care during labour know:

1. The things that are important to you.
2. What your priorities are.
3. How you would like to be cared for.

Before you start:

1. Gather all the information you need – from your midwife, antenatal classes, other women, Bounty.com...
2. Talk to your labour partner about his or her ideas on the best ways to approach the labour and birth. 
3. Read your hospital’s leaflets to find out what’s on offer.

Labour

1. Choice of birth companion - say who you want to be with you; will they stay all the time or leave for certain procedures? 
2. Choice of carers - is it important to you to have only female staff caring for you during labour? Do you need an interpreter or someone to sign for you? 
3. Comfort - say if you want to move around during labour. Do you want beanbags and floor cushions in the delivery room? Do you want to use a birthing pool for pain relief? 
4. Special needs - if you have a disability, write down what kind of equipment you will need and how the staff can help you. If you have particular religious or cultural needs, write these down. 
5. Coping with pain – find out more about pain relief here.
6. Interventions - this is the point to think about episiotomy – the cut that may be made to enlarge the birth outlet, assisted deliveries, and caesarean sections.

After the birth

1. Baby - would you prefer your baby to be dried before being handed to you? Or do you want your baby to be placed immediately in your arms?
2. Brothers and sisters - do you want them to come into the delivery room to see the baby straight away? 
3. Feeding - do you want to breastfeed your baby and not want him given any formula feeds? Do remember, once you begin formula feeding it is possible, but may be difficult, to reverse your decision and begin breastfeeding. 
4. Your diet - do you need a special diet on the postnatal ward?

Bounty Organiser

You can keep track of your pregnancy milestones with our free online calendar. It lets you enter your baby’s due date which automatically populates the calendar with need-to-know dates such as when to give your MAT B1 form to your employer, the earliest date you can start maternity leave, and when to apply for free prescriptions and dental treatment, the Health in Pregnancy Grant and Child Benefit. You can add in your midwife appointments, scan dates and antenatal classes and select to receive email reminders for them a month, a week or a day before. Plus, print off our useful checklists which cover everything from what to pack in your hospital bag to breastfeeding essentials.