Birth Plans: What to Include and Why Every Plan Looks Different
If you’re pregnant and starting to think about creating a birth plan, you might already feel a little overwhelmed. There are templates everywhere, strong opinions online, and a quiet pressure to get it right. If that’s you, you’re not alone.
Hi, I’m Danielle. I’m a birth photographer and doula serving Cheyenne and Northern Colorado, and I work with families who want their births to feel supported, intentional, and aligned with what matters most to them. I see birth plans used in a lot of different ways, and I also see where they tend to fall short.
This guide is here to help you create a birth plan that feels supportive rather than restrictive. It’s not about controlling every detail or predicting how birth will unfold. It’s about clarity, communication, and understanding your own priorities so you can walk into birth feeling more grounded and informed.
Wherever you are in your planning, I’m here to support you.
What a Birth Plan Is and What It Is Not
Before getting into a birth plan, it helps to clear up what a birth plan actually is.
A birth plan is a communication tool. It’s a way to share your preferences, values, and priorities with your care team. It gives context to your decisions and helps everyone understand how you hope to be supported. A birth plan communicates “hey, I’m aware of what my options are, and I’ve thought through how I’d like my body and my baby to be treated during this experience.”
A birth plan is not a contract. It’s not a guarantee. And it’s not a test you can fail if birth unfolds differently than expected. I often like to call them “birth preferences” rather than plans for this reason.
The most helpful birth plans leave room for flexibility. They focus on what matters most to you rather than trying to account for every possible scenario. When used this way, a birth plan becomes a grounding reference point instead of a source of pressure.
Before You Start Your Birth Plan
Before you sit down to write anything, there’s some important groundwork that can make the process feel smoother and more meaningful.
Who Should Be Involved in Creating It
You don’t have to create your birth plan alone. In fact, it often works best when you include the people who will be supporting you.
This might include your partner, your doula, or anyone else who will be present during labor. Talking through preferences together helps ensure everyone understands your hopes and knows how to advocate for you if needed. Plus, your doula can help answer any questions that might pop up along the way.
Questions Worth Asking Your Provider Ahead of Time
One of the most overlooked parts of a birth plan is understanding how your provider and birth setting typically operate.
Before finalizing your plan, it’s helpful to ask questions like:
What are your policies regarding delayed cord clamping, eating in labor, waiting for spontaneous labor to start, etc.? (hospital policies aren’t law… but it is helpful to be aware of what they are ahead of time)
How many support people may I have, and how are they welcomed into the space?
What flexibility exists around monitoring, movement, or positioning?
How are unexpected or emergency situations typically handled?
These conversations can help you shape a birth plan that fits within your setting rather than working against it.
Balancing Research With Intuition
Education matters. Like, a lot. Going into your birth fully informed changes outcomes for the better. Understanding options, procedures, and common practices gives you a stronger foundation for decision making.
At the same time, your intuition deserves a seat at the table. A birth plan should reflect not only what you’ve learned, but also what feels right in your body. If something doesn’t sit well, you MUST pay attention to that feeling.
Birth Planning: Creating a Plan That Reflects You
Every birth plan will look different because every person and every birth is different. The goal isn’t to include everything. It’s to include what matters most to you. In fact, I’d discourage from including everything…. that will make for a very long document that your team won’t take the time to read. Instead, reflect on the values and goals that matter the most to you.
How You Want Your Birth Space to Feel, Look, and Sound
The environment you labor in can have a real impact on how safe and supported you feel.
You might consider:
Lighting preferences
Music or silence
Scents and aromatherapy
Who you want present and who you don’t
How much privacy matters to you
These details help your care team understand how to create a space where you can settle in and focus.
Who Will Support You and How That Support Should Show Up
Support looks different for everyone. Some people want constant reassurance and touch. Others prefer quiet presence and minimal talking.
Your birth plan can include:
Who your primary support people are
How you prefer to be encouraged
Whether you want guidance offered or only when asked
Clear communication around support helps prevent misunderstandings during labor.
Coping With Labor and What Options You Want Available
It can be helpful to outline how you plan to cope with labor and what options you want available or offered.
This might include:
Movement, position changes, or water
Breathing or grounding techniques
Medication preferences or openness to pain relief options
You don’t need to lock yourself into one path. Listing preferences simply helps your team understand what you’d like to try first.
Preferences Around Monitoring, Procedures, and Communication
Many people include preferences around monitoring, cervical exams, and procedures in their birth plan checklist.
This section can focus on:
Your feelings toward intermittent monitoring vs. continuous fetal monitoring
If you’d like to accept or decline cervical exams
If you’ll be accepting or declining an IV hep lock
If you are open to artificial rupture of membranes (your provider breaking your water) or if you’d prefer your waters to release on their own
Preferences around consent and explanation
This is often less about specific interventions and more about how communication happens if they arise.
Birth Documentation and Personal Boundaries
Some families want their birth documented through photography or video. Others prefer privacy.
If this matters to you, your birth plan can include:
Whether photos or video are welcome
Which moments feel important to document
Clear boundaries help everyone feel respected.
Pushing, Delivery Positions, and How Baby Arrives
You may have preferences around pushing positions, coached versus spontaneous pushing, or how baby is brought to your chest.
This section might include:
Positions you want to try or avoid
If you or your partner would like to catch your own baby
Whether immediate skin to skin is important to you
If you’d like delayed cord clamping and what “delayed” means to you
Any preferences you may have in the event of induction or cesarean birth
Again, these are preferences, not demands.
Immediate Newborn Care and Feeding
The moments after birth can feel tender and intense. Including newborn care preferences in your birth plan checklist helps protect that space.
You might note preferences around:
Accepting or declining the standard newborn medications: Hep B, Vitamin K, and erythromycin eye ointment.
Timing of exams or procedures
Feeding plans and support
These details help your team understand what feels most supportive to you in those early moments.
What Matters Most if Birth Takes a Different Turn
One of the most important parts of a birth plan is acknowledging that birth can change.
Rather than trying to predict every outcome, this section can focus on values. What helps you feel safe if things shift? What support matters most? How do you want communication handled if plans change? Do you have specific preferences if a C-section is needed?
This helps your care team continue to support you well, even if birth unfolds differently than hoped.
How to Share Your Birth Plan
Once your birth plan checklist is complete, sharing it clearly and simply is key.
Keep it concise. One or two pages is often enough. Highlight priorities rather than listing every detail. Bring copies to appointments and to your birth location. Place copies on the nurse stand in your room.
Most importantly, use your birth plan as a conversation starter. Talking through it with your provider and support team helps ensure everyone is on the same page long before labor begins.
A Birth Plan Is About Support and Knowledge, Not Perfection
There’s a lot of pressure around birth plans. The idea that if you just plan well enough, birth will go a certain way.
In reality, a birth plan isn’t about controlling birth. It’s about understanding yourself, becoming educated about your options, communicating clearly, and creating a foundation of support and trust.
Sometimes the most powerful part of a birth plan isn’t the document itself. It’s the process of reflecting on what matters to you and feeling confident enough to voice it.
Moving Forward With Clarity and Support
If you’re working on a birth plan (or “preferences”) and feeling unsure, overwhelmed, or stuck, know this. You don’t need to have everything figured out. You’re allowed to change your mind. And your preferences are worthy of respect.
If you’re looking for guidance, support, or someone to help you talk through your options, I’m here for you. Supporting families through pregnancy and birth planning is something I’m deeply honored to do.
And if you’re looking for encouragement, education, and honest conversations about birth, you’re always welcome to come say hi on Instagram or Facebook I look forward to supporting you in the future!