Birth Preferences: Creating Your Personal Birth Plan

Why Birth Preferences Matter

Your birth preferences are a valuable way to communicate your wishes and priorities for labour and birth. They help your care providers understand what’s most important to you so they can best support you throughout the process.

Having a clear plan also helps you feel more confident, calm, and organised as you prepare to meet your baby. Discussing your options in advance allows you to make informed choices and ensures your voice is heard on the day of your baby’s birth.

This birth preferences checklist is designed to be a helpful prompt for you and your birthing partner to discuss your ideal birth experience. Take what feels right for you, adapt what you need, and leave the rest.

Early Stages of Labour

• I would like to stay at home for as long as possible before going to hospital or the birth centre.
• I would prefer labour to progress naturally, with no medical intervention unless clearly needed for my health or my baby’s wellbeing.
• I would like to use the bath, rather than the birth pool, in the early stages of labour.

Admission to Hospital or Birth Centre

• I would like the option to return home if my labour is not well established (around 4–6 cm dilated).
• I prefer intermittent foetal monitoring rather than continuous monitoring.
• I would like to dim the lights and arrange the birthing space to feel calm and comfortable.
• I prefer to keep the number of people in the room to a minimum.
• Please direct any general labour and birth questions to my birth partner first.
• I would appreciate quiet and calm conversations at a low volume.
• Please knock before entering my room.
• I would like my comfort level to be discussed, rather than my pain level.

Established Labour Preferences

• I would like to stay active and move freely throughout labour.
• I prefer an undisturbed birth environment with minimal monitoring and vaginal examinations.
• I would like to labour in water, if possible.
• I would like to eat and drink freely during labour, especially if it’s prolonged.
• I wish to avoid premature rupture of membranes or augmentation unless clearly medically necessary.
• If labour slows, I would like to use natural methods to encourage progress.
• I request that any interventions be fully explained before taking place.
• I would like time to discuss any decisions with my birth partner before proceeding.
• I prefer to allow labour to unfold naturally unless my baby shows signs of distress.
• Please wait for me to request pain relief rather than suggesting it.

Birthing Phase Preferences

• I would like to follow my body’s natural expulsive reflex to guide my baby’s descent rather than being coached to push.
• I prefer not to receive directed or coached pushing instructions.
• I would like to choose whichever birthing position feels most comfortable.
• I would like my partner or myself to receive the baby immediately after birth.
• I would like immediate skin-to-skin contact with my baby after delivery, whether natural or assisted.
• Please delay cord clamping until it has stopped pulsating.
• I would like my baby to remain with me or my birth partner at all times.

Birthing the Placenta

• I would like to birth my placenta naturally, without injection, unless there is a clear medical reason to do otherwise.

A Note on Flexibility

Every birth unfolds in its own way. Your birth preferences are a guide, not a script — a way to communicate your hopes while remaining open to what’s best for you and your baby on the day.

Click to download and print your personalised birth plan checklist.