As a first time parent, I was under the impression that my OBGYN would rather roll his eyes all the way into the back of his head than be asked to review my birth plan. But to my pleasant surprise, he was actually the one who suggested I put one together. And that’s how I knew he was the right doctor for me. It did, however, leave me wondering “what exactly is a birth plan?”
After some light Googling, I pulled the elements that I thought would be most relevant to me, the hospital I was planning to deliver my baby at (Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi) and my husband and my wishes for the birth together into my personal “dream birth”, birth plan. For those of you asking yourself what you’re meant to have in this birth plan, here’s my birth plan for you to reference, copy, tweak, share or disregard entirely. Just don’t be scared to make a birth plan – it is intended to help your birthing team create the birthing environment that is going to make you feel most comfortable, confident and capable.
Throughout my pregnancy I attended the antenatal clinic at Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, attended by Dr Charles Muteshi. He was lovely, kind and reassuring and I really enjoyed his care. For my labour, thanks to my uncomplicated pregnancy and what was expected to be a routine vaginal delivery, I opted to have the Dr on call care for me, which worked out very well, as I don’t think Dr Muteshi would even have had time to get to the hospital before Augie was born. Having multiple copies of my birth plan meant my husband was able to inform the team on call of our wishes and made us both feel more comfortable with the doctor we had never met before delivering our baby.
