Birthplans:

Many families choose to create a birthplan that details their hopes and goals for their birth experience. It is certainly not mandatory to have a birthplan but you are welcome to bring one to discuss with your maternity provider and/ or when you arrive at the hospital in labour. 

There are many different birthplan templates out there of varying levels of detail. I like this one from the pregnancyinfo.ca website

https://www.pregnancyinfo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Birth-Plan.pdf

A few points to consider when creating your birthplan:

• When there is an intervention recommended during your labour experience, this will always be discussed with you and explained in detail. Nothing will be done without your consent and you will always have the opportunity to ask questions and ask for more information. 

• Delayed cord clamping is routinely performed as long as your baby does not require any extra medical attention at the time of birth

• BC Women’s Hospital supports the important principle of ‘Golden Hour’. This means that your baby will be placed directly on your chest, skin to skin, where they will remain for at least the first 60 minutes as long as they do not require any urgent medical attention. Golden hour is important in helping babies make the transition from inside their mother to the outside world. It is also important in helping the early initiation of breastfeeding.