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you want the doctor to break your water to speed up labor or wait until it ruptures on its own?
Do you want to avoid an episiotomy?
Can the doctor avoid using forceps to help deliver the baby?
Can your husband or partner cut the umbilical cord?
Do you want to hold the baby right after birth, or have him cleaned and warmed first?
Who do you want present during the birth? If you have to have a c-section?

Are videos and/or photos permitted?
Do you want the baby with you 24 hours or in the nursery some so you can rest?
Breastfeed, bottle feed with pumped milk, or bottle feed with formula?
Do you want photos taken in the hospital?

As soon as you get your birth plan written the way you want it, take it to your next doctor's appointment and give the doctor a copy for your chart. As before, make sure that all of your wishes are possible. Maybe you want your older children to be in the room for the birth, but the particular hospital where you will be delivering your baby doesn't allow it. Your obstetrician can tell you the things on your list that you may need to change.

Bring a few copies of your birth plan to the hospital and give one to the nurse upon getting settled in your birthing room. If the nurse wants to do something that your doctor has already said that you didn't have to have (such as an I.V.) then refuse the treatment, show the nurse your approved birth plan, and insist she talk to your doctor before proceeding.

You should also be prepared to change your birth plan as necessary. Above all else, the most important thing during the birth of your baby is that both you and your baby are healthy after it is all said and done. If the baby's heart rate drops or if your cervix isn't dilating properly during your labor and delivery, you may have to have a c-section, anesthesia, an I.V. or some other procedure that you hadn't planned. You should remember that the outcome is more important than the process. After all, everything that happens before your baby takes his first breath is so much more insignificant than everything that happens after.

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