Birth planning support
Everyone deserves a birth plan that makes them feel respected, empowered, and prepared for birth.
A birth plan is not just for your provider—it is for you. The best birth plans help us understand our own needs and preferences, outline our go-to support and comfort measures, and help us feel ready for the unexpected.
Why is a birth plan useful?
Drafting a birth plan can be a vital and empowering way to prepare for the physical and emotional experience of giving birth—especially for first pregnancies, rainbow births, and those who have a prior traumatic birth experience. Thinking in advance about what circumstances may arise and how we’d like to respond to them can help us feel more prepared and less nervous for labor. 
What does a birth plan do?
It tells our provider our preferences for different circumstances that may arise during birth.
It lets us outline in advance what comfort measures we’d like to take. Your provider may not need to know that you’d like to walk around or use a ball during labor—but if you determine this in advance, you may be more likely to make use of those measures, or feel more comfortable asking for access.
It helps us consider and prepare for different possibilities. For example, if you intend to have a natural birth but want to make sure that, if things change, your wishes are respected, your birth plan could include a section for in the event of a Caesarean.
It can allow us to practice how we’d like to advocate for ourselves during labor, or think in advance of who we’d like to advocate for us in which moments. For example, you might want to delay cord clamping but anticipate that you’ll be too swept up in the moment to remind your provider. You could ask your partner or doula to remind the doctor, and include specific language in your copy of the birth plan.
How is a birth plan especially beneficial in a rainbow birth?
During birth, our bodies produce oxytocin (sometimes nicknamed the “happy hormone” or “love hormone”) to stimulate uterine contractions and help our babies enter the world. Cortisol, or the stress hormone, can interfere with the production of oxytocin. When we produce cortisol during labor—when we grow stressed—it can slow down our labor progress and may even increase the likelihood of medical interventions.
Women with prior birth or medical trauma may feel especially vulnerable when laboring. For these women especially, planning support and comfort measures for during labor can be important and healing. And, because of the relationship between cortisol and oxytocin, it can even contribute to a smoother birth experience.
It’s not uncommon, particularly after a prior loss, to say “the only thing I want out of birth is a healthy baby.” You may feel like asking for more than that is risking disappointment, or even ‘tempting fate.’ But the reality is that you, and every person giving birth, deserves more than just a healthy baby from your birth experience. You also deserve a birth in which you feel safe, respected, and cared for.
What we offer
In partnership with Abigail Stinson of Arise Doula, I offer birth planning support split across two sessions.
In the first session, we’ll get to know you and talk about your hopes and goals for birth. We’ll discuss the stages of childbirth, choices you may be presented with, and options you may want to consider. You’ll go home with an info packet so you have the time to let the information sink in and consider your preferences.
In the second session, we’ll go over your preferences and talk about comfort measures, advocacy language, and creating a birth space that feels safe. You’ll leave with two customized birth plans—one for you and one for your provider. They’ll be shared via an editable Canva profile for in case your plans and preferences change.
A plan for partners
You are not giving birth alone. Your spouse, partner, or birth support person also has a major role to play in your birth: encouragement, physical and emotional support, and advocacy.Our birth planning sessions include a focus on the practical and emotional support your partner can provide, so they feel equipped to show up for you during the birth.Our philosophy
Our role in helping you draft a birth plan is to help you determine which comfort measures, medical choices, and interventions you are and are not comfortable with. We do not have our own agenda, aims, or opinions about your birth.
Instead, we are here to serve as a mirror to ask guiding questions, suggest options you may not have considered, and help consolidate your wants into a birth plan that helps you feel safe and supported for labor.FAQs
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Birth planning support may be right for you if:
You’re feeling especially apprehensive or nervous for birth;
You’ve opted not to work with a doula but would still like personal support in planning your approach to the birth;
You’re new to the American medical system and would like support navigating what you might encounter in a hospital setting; or
You have prior birth or loss trauma and are looking for additional support.
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Both sessions are completed over Zoom!
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Yes, yes, and yes! We especially encourage you to have your partner or birth support person present in the sessions.
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Our birth planning support package is $180. This includes two one-hour sessions with Sara and Abigail, the birth info packet, a resource list, and two editable versions of your birth plan—one for you and one for your provider.