Planning your care

It is important to be involved in the choices and decisions for your care at each stage of your maternity journey. Please tell us what matters to you!

Information:

My Journey Through Maternity Care
Please read the My Pregnancy Journey Booklet which has been designed to help you make decisions about your care.

Make informed choices with BRAIN

What is the BRAIN Tool?

Everyone is different, and your preferences may be shaped by your history and experiences. Maternity Staff are here to provide information and support as you
make decisions about your care.

  • Benefits – What are the positive outcomes for me and my baby?
  • Risks – What are the potential downsides or complications?
  • Alternatives – What other choices or options are available to me?
  • Intuition – What does my gut feeling or instinct tell me?
  • Nothing – What happens if I choose to wait or do nothing?

We aim to explain risks in a way that makes sense to you such as percentage or probability – e.g.1% or 1 in 100. Still unsure? Ask for further explanation.

Creating your personalised care plan

You may find it helpful to create a personalised care plan to help you explore, discuss and record your individual choices for pregnancy, birth and the first few weeks of parenthood.

The questions below are different things to think about. You can add this information to My Pregnancy Notes or print a copy to fill in below:

Download a printable Personalised Care Plan to fill in

Planning in pregnancy

It is a good idea to develop your care plan with those close to you and you can share it with your maternity team. As pregnancy progresses your needs and decisions may change and you can change your plan.

This is how I am feeling at the moment (physically and or emotionally):

This is how my partner/family are feeling:

This is how I like to receive information/communicate:

I would like more information during pregnancy about:

  • ­ Folic acid and Vitamin D
  • ­ Foods to avoid
  • ­ Diet
  • ­ Gestational diabetes
  • ­ Exercise
  • ­ Nicotine, alcohol & drugs
  • ­ Mental health & antenatal depression
  • ­ Feeding my baby
  • ­ Pregnancy vaccinations
  • ­ Perineal massage
  • ­ Pelvic Floor exercises
  • ­ Pre-eclampsia
  • ­ Low lying placenta
  • ­ Antenatal classes
  • ­ Postnatal contraception

I would like support or access to services for help with:

  • ­ Housing
  • ­ Benefits/finance
  • ­ Parenting and bonding
  • ­ Relationships
  • ­ Mother/baby Groups
  • ­ Emotional/mental wellbeing
  • ­ Language skills
  • ­ Asylum
  • ­ Female genital mutilation
  • ­ Staying safe / domestic violence and abuse
  • ­ Filling in forms
  • ­ Understanding paperwork or leaflets

My previous birth experiences:

Other experiences impacting on my pregnancy and birth choices:

Other things I would like support with during pregnancy:

My current questions regarding my pregnancy care:

My current questions regarding my baby’s/babies’ birth:

Planning my baby’s/babies’ birth

As your pregnancy progresses your needs and decisions for your birth may change and you can change your plan.

This is how I am feeling about birth:

More about me – my previous history that has impacted on my decisions on birth preferences:

This is why I feel this way:

  • ­ Previous trauma (birth, childhood experience, abuse, bereavement )
  • ­ Social reasons
  • ­ My physical/mental health

What will help me achieve my birth choices:

I would like more information about:

  • ­ How labour starts
  • ­ Who can be with me
  • ­ What to take into hospital
  • ­ Coping strategies & pain relief
  • ­ Vaginal examinations
  • ­ The different ways my baby’s heart rate will be monitored
  • ­ How my placenta is delivered (Delayed cord clamping, natural delivery, active management)
  • ­ Vitamin K for my baby

My birth partner will be:

I would like my labour and birth to be at:

If I go past my due date:

During labour and birth, I would like to consider the following coping strategies/pain relief:

How I would like to give birth:

Monitoring my baby during labour:

How I would like to feed my baby:

If I am having a planned caesarean section birth, my preferences would be:

If I need an emergency caesarean section birth, my preferences would be:

My thoughts on skin to skin contact:

My thoughts on Vitamin K:

I would prefer to give birth:

Planning my postnatal care

After your baby is born your needs and decisions may change and you can change and add to your plan.

My preferences/plans for after birth:

I am being supported by:

I would like more information about:

  • ­ Baby care
  • ­ Coping with a crying baby
  • ­ Feeding
  • ­ What to do if I am feeling sad
  • ­ My physical recovery
  • ­ Pelvic floor exercises
  • ­ Who will be looking after me (midwife, health visitor)
  • ­ Registering the birth
  • ­ Contraception
  • ­ Planning for my next pregnancy

I would like support with:

This is how I am feeling about my postnatal care:

My current questions regarding my postnatal care:

My birth reflections:

This is how I am feeling:

This is how my partner/family are feeling:

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