Want more iVillage? Sign up for our
Newsletters
Pregnancy - Planning for Labor
SYMPTOMS & TREATMENTS
- Topic Overview
-
Health Tools
- Prenatal Visits and Tests
- Testing For Birth Defects
- Health and Nutrition
- Body Changes
- Baby Development
- Emotions and Relationships
- Health Concerns
- Planning for Labor
- When to Call a Doctor
- Other Places To Get Help
- Related Information
- References
- Credits
During your prenatal visits, talk with your doctor or midwife about what you would like to happen during your labor. Consider writing up your labor and delivery preferences in a birthing plan, either in a childbirth education class or on your own. You can find examples of birthing plans on parenting websites.
Because no labor or delivery can be fully anticipated or planned in advance, be flexible. Your experience after labor begins may be totally different from what you expected. If an emergency or an urgent situation arises, your plans may be changed for your own or your baby's safety.
When making plans for your baby's birth, consider the location of your delivery, who will deliver your baby, and whether you want continuous labor support from a doula, a friend, or family members. If you haven't already, this is also a good time to decide whether you'll attend a childbirth education class, starting in your sixth or seventh month of pregnancy.
Learn about labor and delivery ahead of time. Think through your preferences for comfort measures, pain relief, medical procedures, and fetal monitoring. And think through how you want to handle your first hours with your newborn.
Planning to breast-feed
Plan ahead for breast-feeding by learning about breast-feeding and finding a good lactation consultant ahead of time and buying necessary supplies. For more information, see the topic Breast-Feeding.
Cord blood banking
Sometime during your pregnancy, you may get information about cord blood banking. Cord blood is the blood left in the umbilical cord after birth. Think about whether you want to bank your baby's umbilical cord blood for possible future use.
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: November 10, 2010 |
| Medical Review: | Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
Welcome to Care Circle, an exclusive tool to help you take care of yourself and your loved ones. Here's how it works:
- Create profiles for yourself and your loved ones.
- Select the topics and conditions that interest each of you.
- Get customized news updates, original content, tools, and expert advice for each Care Circle member delivered directly to your personalized homepage.
The information you input is strictly private; you choose who has access to your Care Circle.
How do I add myself or someone else to my care circle?
Click on "Add someone." Fill out the short profile. Choose an avatar. Select the topics and conditions that interest this person from the pulldown menu. You can select as many as you want, but you must choose at least one. Click on "Add Someone" again. You should start getting updates immediately.
How do I save content to my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab of the person for whom you're saving content. Put your cursor over the piece of content that you want to save; a disk icon will appear in the righthand corner. Click on the disk and the piece of content will be moved to a save folder.
How do I add additional topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Add More to Follow," select additional topics and conditions.
How do I delete topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Follows," scroll over the topic or condition you want to delete. An "X" should appear on the righthand side. Click on the "X" and the topic or condition will be deleted from the list.
To manage your Care Circle, Please
Sign In.
from
- Facebook is now fueling organ donations
- Military women and suicide: Home safe but not sound
- Still in gear: Injuries don’t stop veterans on 100-day bike trek
- Ask Jenna: I've hit a weight loss plateau. What do I do?
- He poses in a tutu to laugh in face of wife's cancer
- After chemo hair loss, 'henna crowns' help heal
The iVillage Network