Yes of course! Maybe tinker the format a little bit, though. Those standardised, downloadable birth plans are not the way forward

It's true that birth plans have a reputation for 'going out of the window'. But the goal of writing a birth plan isn't actually the piece of paper you hand to a midwife you probably won't have met before). The goal is having that wealth preparing and reading and planning you'll have done in your back pocket. It won't all fit on one or two sides of A4 with your 'birth preferences' on them, so think about capturing all this important birth planning information and ideas in a different way. I suggest writing THREE birth plans.

Birth Plan #1 : do not use a standardised birth plan, with tick boxes and a long list of the observations and interventions you think you do or don't want. The first Birth Plan is your own mind map, containing all the notes you make while you're reading and in classes and watching social media. These are the important points you've heard and ideas you want to retain. This is flexible and dynamic and can be in any format that works for you - written long-hand in a notebook, on your phone, or graphically visualised.

Birth Plan #2 : put aside plenty of time to talk to your birth partner about the things that are really important to you and together write a birth plan specifically for them to use, like an aide memoir. Being a birth partner can be intense and frankly exhausting, so having a list they can refer back to can be helpful to you both. This can contain everything from reminders of the comfort measures and hypnobirthing techniques you'd like to use, through to your agreed contingency plans.

Birth Plan #3 : now you can write a birth plan to share with your midwives. My recommendation here is to think of this like a letter of introduction - unless you're planning a home birth you are very unlikely to have met your midwife before she supports you in labour. Start with a paragraph that tells them a little bit about who you are and what a 'good birth experience' would look like for you. Maybe tell them a little bit about you and your partner and your experience of this pregnancy. You might want to include the top three or five things that are most important to you. You can also share the list you've developed of the things you do and do not want, for example, vaginal examinations, induction of labour, monitoring, comfort measures and pain relief, epidural, and all the other things that are commonly in birth plans.

Finally! Book onto a birth planning session with me. Of course there's so much more to writing a birth plan than the three brief tips above. I can help you write a birth plan that is appropriate, credible, relevant, reassuring to you, and helpful to your birth partner and is a good start to your time with the midwife who'll be supporting you.

Email me at charlie@thegoodbirthpractice.co.uk to find out more and to book

You can easily Google 'birth plan' and find thousands of suggestions for options you might want to consent to or decline in labour. I'm not sure these lists of ticks and crosses are very helpful though.

My recommendation is that you have two birth plans. The first is the plan that you and your partner discuss after your antenatal classes and all the reading and planning and prep you're going to do. This plan might well note your thoughts about vaginal examinations, or monitoring, or movement in labour. This isn't for anyone apart from you. It's more of an aide memoir, than a birth plan. Writing it all down is a helpful way to remember what you've discovered, and talking about it together is an effective way of making sure you're both 'on the same page'.

Your second birth plan is the one to share with your midwife. This one needs to be fairly short, and to communicate the most important information about your aspirations and anxieties quickly and simply. There is no right answer to this, I'm afraid! My suggestion though, is that you think of 3 things that are really important to you, or that you think they really must know about you. Start by straightforwardly writing those 3 things as if you were writing a letter to them. It's a really lovely, friendly and unusual way to capture their attention, and get them thinking about you as fully rounded, whole humans.

Get in touch to find out more about birth planning sessions and workshops

Writing your birth plan is a process, not an event. You'll be making mental notes from the moment you find out you're pregnant (if not before!).

My advice to you is to get yourself a notebook and jot down all the things that sound interesting, or important, or worrying, or positive. As your pregnancy progresses, and you learn more about how birth works (in your body as well as in the NHS), you'll start to refine these ideas. You'll write your birth plan out of all this newly acquired knowledge.

Don't worry if you haven't got it 'finalised' until 34 or 36 weeks. Writing your birth plan should be an iterative process, and you may find you're changing your ideas and preferences right up until the last moment. This is completely normal and healthy - and I'd call it 'situational decision making'.

It IS a good idea to have your most important preferences, aspirations and anxieties noted down for your birth partner and your midwife though. A target of 37 weeks - your 'full term' - is a good idea, and you keep refining it up until you're in labour if you want to.

Get in touch to book a birth planning session with me! An experienced doula and hypnobirthing practitioner with current insight into how birth works in the NHS. Check out the 'Working with You' page for more info....