14 Free, Printable Birth Plan Templates For Every Kind Of Delivery

Looking for a one-page option that covers the essentials and doesn’t overwhelm you with the rest? This printable birth plan template from Truly Mama focuses on need-to-know information about you and your delivery. The checklist includes some of the most common preferences listed in birth plans — like wearing your own clothes and delayed cord clamping — so you can check the boxes you want and forget the rest. It even includes a section on C-section wishes in case you have one, because even the simplest birth plans should address all the possibilities. The color-coded sections are a nice way to break up the information for your providers, too.

One major reason birth planning can feel so overwhelming is all the medical decision-making, especially when you don’t know what’s standard practice and what you have to specifically ask for. This printable birth plan from the Cord for Life Foundation includes brief descriptions of what typically happens during that stage of labor, and why it’s important to think about your options. It’s a helpful introduction to the whole birth planning process.

A checklist-style birth plan template like this one from the Peanut app covers many popular preferences, meaning you can simply print it out and select the options that suit you. The sections address each stage of your delivery — active labor, pushing, and immediately postpartum — so you can envision how everything will flow on the big day. This printable birth plan template is a one-page, one-sided option, which makes it easier for busy doctors and nurses to read in its entirety, ensuring they know exactly what’s most important to you. If anything is missing from the checklist sections, you can always add it in the notes area.

If you want full control over what your birth plan says and you want it to look polished when you’re done, this is the template for you. The Savvy Mama Lifestyle blog’s birth plan worksheet breaks your preferences up by topic (atmosphere, pain management, and so on), but otherwise leaves the description of your choices up to you. Midwives, doulas, nurses, and doctors will love that they’re not scanning a long document for which boxes you’ve checked and which you haven’t, and guarantees that the preferences you care about are front and center. This printable template is more for people who have a good sense of what they want. If you haven’t researched all of your birth plan options yet, some of the other templates in this list may give you a better jumping-off point.

Want to fit all the essentials on one page? The birth plan template from Motif Medical is free, printable, and designed to be easy to read quickly. It ensures everything that matters to you gets across clearly while keeping things short and simple.

If wordy checklists are not your vibe, a picture-based birth plan might be more appealing. This design-forward, visually-focused birth plan template from Mama Natural will be sent to your email address, where you can choose between a downloadable Word doc or Google doc. Once you have the template, you can edit it to create a beautiful, visual printable birth plan for yourself and your care team. Icons are color-coded, with blue emphasizing things you do want (think saving the placenta or immediate skin-to-skin) and red signifying things you don’t (like no episiotomy). Organize the icons by stage of delivery, and voilà: a pretty and practical birth plan that’s easy for even the busiest delivery team to understand and follow.

Yes, birth plans for cesarean sections are totally a thing. While you may not have all of the same options you would during a vaginal delivery, many hospitals can work with you to make your planned C-section into the experience you want it to be. Clothing brand Kindred Bravely actually has one of the best free, printable birth plans out there for C-section mamas. It lists options you may not have known you had, like requesting what music is played in the operating room, and asking that any monitoring devices be placed on your back so your baby can easily be placed on your chest for skin-to-skin contact immediately after delivery.

Some people want their birth plan to be as thorough as possible — and understandably so, because giving birth is kind of a big deal. The free birth plan template from The Bump is a whopping six pages long, and truly covers everything. It starts off with some medical history (especially important if you have any chronic conditions), dives into the atmosphere you want to create, lists a multitude of pain-relief choices, pushing positions, and so much more. It’s also the perfect VBAC birth plan template because it includes a portion for C-section preferences should you require one.

If you’re hoping to have a home birth, this worksheet might be just what you need. It prompts you about everything your home birth providers will want to know as they prepare for your baby’s arrival. Chances are you’ll discuss all of the things included here — like your favorite essential oils to diffuse during labor or what parts of the birth you do and don’t want photographed — with your midwife during pregnancy. But when you’re in the thick of those contractions, a written birth plan can give you a sense of calm, knowing that everyone around you knows exactly what your wishes are.

Many free, printable birth plans out there are designed with hospital births in mind, and include sections on pain management with epidurals, C-section wishes should you need one, and more. This printable birth plan template from Baby Chick takes it a step further by including a NICU plan, which you may not need but will be grateful to have if you do. It includes lots of induction and labor options, plenty of choices surrounding pushing, as well as important and thoughtful postpartum considerations not found in other templates, like whether you’re donating or banking cord blood.

Want to build your birth plan online instead of filling out multiple copies by hand? Earth Mama Organics has a free birth-plan tool to do just that. You’ll have to enter your name and email address, meaning you may get some emails from them later, but once you see the tool you may decide it’s worth it. This birth-plan template applies to both hospital births and birth-center births, and lets you list who you’d like in your room at different stages of labor, how you’d like the atmosphere to feel, and your goals for every stage of labor.

If you’re expecting twins or multiples, you’ve probably already noticed that most birth plan templates don’t exactly apply to your delivery. This free, printable template from Twiniversity is focused completely on twins, and includes detailed checklists of options for labor and pushing, as well as preferences for postpartum care. Best of all? It’s extremely simple — just check your preferences, make copies for everyone in your care circle, and move on.

While no parents want to imagine losing their newborn, some couples face labor and delivery knowing that will be the outcome. For those parents, planning their time with their baby can feel like one of the most important things they’ll ever do. Anencephaly.org is a resource website focused on one life-limiting condition, but their birth-plan template can be used by any parents in a similar situation. It includes space to share your spiritual or cultural beliefs, your concerns and biggest fears, your hopes for your time with baby, any medical interventions you want (or don’t), and more that you won’t find in standard birth plan templates.

If you’re trying to simplify your birth plan, or just figure out what’s important to you, the Determining Birth Preferences Worksheet from The VBAC Link is here to help. Simply print the packet, cut out the cards (each lists a birth plan preference you may have, like using a birth center), and follow the directions. At the end, you’ll know your top three priorities for your birth, and have a list of 10 additional goals that are important to you, all of which you can hand right to your doctor. To download, scroll to the bottom of the web page, enter your email, and you’ll receive the PDF there.