 Leanna Mae is an author, women’s health educator, and birth doula. Her degree is in health sciences. She is passionate about patient education. Leanna loves to write and share helpful information. She loves to teach! She's also passionate about patient rights and healthcare ethics. Leanna became a birth doula in 2008, a certified breastfeeding specialist in 2014, and graduated college in 2018. After graduating, she started teaching classes. She now offers online classes and in-person classes in western Ohio as well as birth doula services in the greater Dayton/Springfield area. Hi! I’m Leanna Mae. I’m a birth doula in the Dayton, Ohio area. I’m also a birth educator who teaches a class on birth plans. Let’s talk about a few things you do NOT need on your birth plan. There are more birth plan templates out there than ever before. Many of them are being created by Ai… and they’re not good quality. There are also many websites making money from ads who write on this topic just because it’s a hot topic. A lot of the freebies out there are low-quality lead magnets trying to get your email. When you’re seeking a birth plan template, consider if the person who created it is someone who works with birth plans in their career. A birth plan should be made with knowledge and wisdom. #1 – chart info I see a lot of birth plans created by Ai nowadays. You don’t need to put your meds, health conditions, blood type, etc on there. You also don’t need to put your birthday or due date. Just your name is enough. They have access to all your chart info through the computer. #2 – duplicate info They prefer birth plans to only be one or two pages. Let’s maximize the space we have. We don’t need to write what’s already on the whiteboard such as partner’s name, doctor’s name, etc. You also don’t need to write down the hospital. Choosing your birth location is one of the most important things in your birth plan. However, we don’t need to write that down on the summarized birth plan you’ll give your care team. #3 – things that are not for the staff to do As a doula, I love to see your plans for pain management. However, the OB doesn’t need to read the list of support supplies you plan on using. You can have a separate plan with your doula. If it’s not for staff to do, we can skip that in writing. I’ve seen birth plans where they say things like “I plan to use a wooden comb” or TENS machine etc. I absolutely love wooden combs, but your doctor isn’t going to be involved in the non-medical side of things very much if at all. # 4 – yeses and noes only This is a very common approach to list out everything you don’t want. While that’s important and is part of what needs communicated, I encourage you to create a birth plan based on your values. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to talk about your yeses and noes. We will. That said, birth plans that are just a list of yes to this and no to this are missing a lot of potential for communicating better. #5 – images only Visual birth plans are all the rage now. I remember when they came out. There are some pretty ones out there, but these really don’t communicate well. It doesn’t tell me what I want to know most. It doesn’t tell me your values. It doesn’t tell me what’s most important to you. Visual birth plans are usually focused on interventions and comfort measures. We should be talking about a few more things in a good birth plan. #6 – anything you don’t feel educated on It is always okay to ask questions even if you’re already in labor. Please don’t make official yes or no decisions without feeling like you’ve been fully informed and are comfortable making the decision. It’s okay to have things you haven’t decided on yet. It’s also okay to decide as you go. Please don’t decline care without seeking information first. #7 – something Ai said to put As a seasoned doula and birth educator, I would honestly rather you not have a birth plan at all than to ask Ai what to do. They are not trained in healthcare and often give misinformation. Seek wisdom. Pursue education. Ai is not a proper resource of health education.
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