Advocating Your Birth Plan

We stress the importance of having a vision for your birth and finding the right provider to support you through that process, but how exactly do you get there? There are likely going to be some obstacles you will face as you work through what you know you want for your birth, understanding what questions to ask your provider, thinking through real-life scenarios you may come up against, and having the knowledge and the voice to advocate for yourself during pregnancy and birth. This episode will walk you through each step and help you feel more clear and calm about the process for your own birth.

Show Notes

3:16 - You and your provider may view birth differently. That's ok!

6:25 - The first thing you need to be able to do to effectively advocate for yourself.

9:51 - Questions to discuss with your provider as well as what the red flags might look like.

17:33 - How to work through the deal-breaker questions and figure out where there's some give-and-take necessary to get the main things you want.

21:07 - Questions specific for midwives that will help you choose the right one for an out-of-hospital birth.

23:47 - When you've done your best to vet your provider and communicate your plan there still may be times when you feel pressured into things that are not on your birth plan or that you don't want to be part of your birth story. Here's what you can do.

27:11 - A sample scenario you may have to walk through during pregnancy.

31:28 - A sample scenario you may have to walk through during birth.

38:03 - Another sample scenario about provider conversations during pregnancy that can be less than comfortable to discuss.

43:32 - When you are advocating for yourself, these are the steps you need to take!