I remember when my little sister was born, (I was 11). I was so unbelievably attached to her the second I saw her. I cried when my grandparents went to take me home from the hospital. Anyway, I remember the sweetest nurse picked up on this. She asked me if I wanted to do the honors of picking out her hat, blanket, and giving my sister her first bath. It was awesome to feel included. I’ll never forget it.

Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention: take your birth plan to your provider to discuss your preferences before you come in in labor!!

You really covered quite a lot in this video. Very informative. Any pregnant woman would be blessed to have you on their labor/delivery team!

I try to avoid the word “plan” so much! It can create such unrealistic expectations with birth. I love to call the “birth plan” into a “Birth Preference Sheet”. Birthing people need that reference sheet in the moment and using the right words can make such a difference in making it a healthy tool vs a scary plan. Thank you for making this video!!!

Mine is a whole 2 pages of dot points that cover a multitude of scenarios, interventions and things I am ok with, prefer not and then things I absolutely don’t consent to. Plus info on allergies, preferred labouring and pushing positions etc. my midwife really liked it, we just clarified a few things and she added it to my file. I’m also bringing a copy with me though.

I'm 32 weeks pregnant and I'm obsessed with your videos !!!♡

Thank you so much for all the tips!! I am 32 weeks pregnant and am starting to think about my preferences- I love how you used that term!

This is helpful and made me realize that completing two separate birth classes (one with hospital and one with a doula) so far still didn’t cover or allowed me to gain enough information to answer majority of the questions you brought up! I’m 29 weeks now, and still trying to wrap my mind around medications and alternative options just in case I cannot have natural birth experience.

Thank you so much Nurse Zabe, brilliant video ❤. I’m 4 months pregnant and binge watching all of your videos so I’m informed and confident in my decisions!

This is one of the best birth plan videos out there!! I always worried my birth plan was too long or too detailed. After all, the more you know, the more you have to include or specify. But I was able to get it down to about one page per topic - intro, birth, postpartum, feeding, just in case - and going over it with my midwife went well each time

I'm not pregnant (18 months TTC, 4 chemicals, it's a struggle lol), but your videos are so helpful for me as I am working towards my DONA Birth Doula certification.

Dear Nurse Zabe, your videos helped me a lot when I was preparing myself for giving birth to my little daughter. And I had a wonderful, natural und unmedicated birth experience thanks to all of your helpful informations! ❤ A few hours after birth though, my baby died because of an unexpected heart problem (to all the Mamas who are reading this: What happened to my baby really doesn't happen often! Please don't worry now). I give my best every day to integrate my baby and her death into my life. But there aren't many useful informations. We still simply don't talk about the tragedy of infant loss in public and because of that parents who experience it feel very alone and disoriented. And family members and friends just don't know how to react and help. Do you have some knowledge about it and would you share it in a video? Thanks again ❤

You are amazing I wish I had you as my nurse when I gave birth!

Definitely recommend going over your birth preferences with your birthing partner! In labor with my second baby I wasn't in any position to answer anything other than yes or no questions. My nurse asked my husband if he knew what my pain med preferences were and he was able to easily answer. I also like bringing multiple copies of the preferences and make sure your birth partner knows where to find them. No idea if my husband ever handed the preferences to my nurse but knowing he could confidently answer their questions allowed me to stay in my zone. On a note about things like water breaking. During my second labor the OB who was going to be delivering me came into the room to discuss "the plan" for how things were going. He mentioned breaking my water and I immediately told him "no I want to wait." My nurse told me that she was glad I spoke up for my preferences because too many patients come in thinking they have to agree with everything the Dr suggests. Yes, listen to your medical team but everything is done with consent. Your medical team will let you know if there's a safety concern.

Thank you! I have always felt weird about people calling me momma/mommy. I really don’t want the nurses to call me that. I want to be called by my name. But I don’t really know how to bring that up.

❤

I never had one other then I wanted to try natural then when I got to 4 cm I got the epidural. I tries for almost 10 hours natural before it got so bad. Still had a vaginal delivery. Healthy happy 4 1/2 year old boy.

Thank you for this! I wrote mine a while ago, but now that I'm 7 months, I want to take another look at it. Could you maybe talk about how contractions and dilation are 2 different sensations, please?

Going in for a 3rd and last cesarean. Do you have any good ice pack recommendations?

Thank you for including cesarean births! I wanted to ask about photography in the OR. Can my husband take photos or video of the birth?

The OB office I am going to actually has taped to the wall “do not write a birth plan as it is offensive to doctors”. I’m my last labor at a different hospital they did too many interventions that I didn’t want but couldn’t communicate because I was so out of it.

I am pregnant with baby #3 currently. I had preeclampsia with severe features with my 2 other pregnancies. Delivered at 32 weeks and 37 weeks. I feel like I can't even have any preferences for this baby because everything was so hectic and I had zero control of anything when I was in the hospital with them 😔

It was important to me that they called my son by his name, rather than "baby."

First baby, detailed birth preferences complete with quick reference pictures. … Fourth baby, plan is to get the baby out. 😂