What to expect when you're expecting (117 page)

The presence of older children at delivery or immediately after

Suctioning of the newborn; suctioning by the father

Holding the baby immediately after birth; breastfeeding immediately

Postponing cutting the cord, weighing the baby, and/or administering eye drops until after you and your baby greet each other

Having the father help with the delivery and/or cut the cord

Cord blood banking (
page 330
)

You may also want to include some postpartum items on your birth plan, such as:

Your presence at the weighing of the baby, the pediatric exam, and baby’s first bath

Baby feeding in the hospital (whether it will be controlled by the nursery’s schedule or your baby’s hunger; whether supplementary bottles and pacifiers can be avoided if you’re breastfeeding)

Circumcision (see
What to Expect the First Year
)

Rooming-in (
page 431
)

Other children visiting with you and/or with the new baby

Postpartum medication or treatments for you or your baby

The length of the hospital stay, barring complications (
page 430
)

Of course, the most important feature of a good birth plan is flexibility. Since childbirth—like most forces of nature—is unpredictable, the best-laid plans don’t always go, well, according to plan. Though chances are very good that your plan can be carried out just the way you drew it up, there’s always the chance that it won’t. There is no way to predict precisely how labor and delivery will progress (or not progress) until those contractions start coming, so a birth plan you design in advance may not end up being obstetrically or
medically wise, and it may have to be adjusted at the last minute. After all, there’s no greater priority than your well-being and your baby’s—and if your birth plan doesn’t end up being consistent with that priority, it’ll have to take a backseat. A change of mind (yours) can also prompt a change of plan (you were dead set against having an epidural, but somewhere around 4 cm, you become dead set on having one).