Hospital birth plan template: what to include, what to ask, what to leave out
Most births in the United States happen in a hospital, and most birth plan templates are written for one. What makes a hospital plan different is the audience: it will be read by a nurse you have never met, during a shift change, standing up. This guide covers what to put on the page, which questions to ask the hospital before you write it, and the one section almost everyone leaves off.
The one-page template
Free, no email. Built for a hospital's reading habits: tick boxes, short lines, one sheet.
Download the template (PDF) Or let the free generator write itAsk the hospital before you write
Half of a hospital birth plan is finding out what is already true. At the tour or a late prenatal visit, ask:
- What are the visitor rules in labor and after, including children and a doula?
- Is intermittent or wireless monitoring available, and when is continuous monitoring required?
- Is there a shower or tub in the labor rooms? Can it be used during labor?
- What is the policy on eating and drinking in labor?
- Is a saline lock an option instead of a running IV?
- Do you offer nitrous oxide? What is the usual wait for an epidural at night?
- If a cesarean becomes necessary, can my partner stay, is a clear drape available, and is skin to skin in the operating room possible?
- Do babies stay with parents? Where are the newborn exams done?
- What newborn medications and screening do you offer, and when?
- Where does my partner sleep, and what does the hospital provide for them?
Anything the hospital does not offer comes off the plan. Anything that is routine there does not need to be asked for. What is left is your plan.
The sections, for a hospital
Who we are
Names and what to call you both, provider, due date, who else may be in the room, and one honest sentence about you: a past birth, a loss, a fear, something about how you like to be treated. This sentence is what turns a form into a person for the night nurse.
The room
Lights, music, door, moving freely, your own clothes, the shower, students, photos. Say which of these your partner is allowed to enforce.
Labor and comfort
Pain relief phrased as what you want offered and what you will ask for yourself. Monitoring and IV preferences, each with "if my situation allows". What helps you, so the nurse and your partner know what to try.
Decisions and communication
How you want options explained, how much time you want when it is not urgent, who asks the questions, who speaks for you if you cannot, and your thinking today on induction or augmentation. In a hospital, where shift changes mean the people in the room change, this section protects you more than any preference.
Birth, and if a cesarean happens
Positions, pushing, mirror, who announces, who cuts, delayed clamping, skin to skin. Then the cesarean block, written calmly now: partner present, drape, skin to skin in the operating room, partner goes with the baby, narration. About a third of US births are cesareans, so this block is not pessimism; it is planning.
Our baby
Feeding and lactation help, rooming in, exams in your room, partner goes where the baby goes. Newborn medications and screening as "decided" or "want to discuss with the pediatrician first", not as a blanket yes or no. Circumcision and cord blood on the last line.
What to leave out
Anything the hospital does routinely (you do not need to ask for skin to skin at most hospitals now; ask at the tour). Anything medical you have not discussed with your provider. Paragraphs. A second page. The reasons behind your preferences, which belong in the conversation with your provider, not on the sheet. A plan that is short enough to be read is a plan that gets followed.
The section almost everyone leaves off
What your partner does. The person holding this page at two in the morning needs their own: what helps you, what to avoid, the questions to ask when something is proposed, who to call, and what they own in the first days. Hospital staff will tell you a well-briefed partner changes the room. The partner birth plan has a free one-pager and the generator has a partner path.
Bring it, hand it over, say it out loud
Three copies: chart, nurse, partner. Review it with your provider at 34 to 36 weeks so nothing on it is a surprise. At check-in, your partner hands one to the nurse and says the top two things out loud. At shift change, the same thing again. A plan that lives in a bag is not a plan.
The free generator writes a hospital plan from your answers
Choose a hospital and the planner asks the hospital-specific questions and the logistics, including who drives, the route and who has the other kids. It writes your preferences, a quick reference the nurses can act on, your questions for the provider and a postpartum plan, and gives your partner their own path. No account; answers stay on your device.
Open the free planner See a filled-in hospital planQuestions people ask
Do hospitals actually read birth plans?
Nurses read one-page plans with tick boxes, usually at check-in and shift change. They skim or skip multi-page narratives. Keep it to one sheet, hand it to the nurse directly, and have your partner say the top two items aloud.
When should I give my birth plan to the hospital?
Review it with your provider at 34 to 36 weeks, and bring printed copies to the hospital for the chart and the nurse. Some practices will put it in your record in advance; ask.
Should I put pain medication preferences on a hospital birth plan?
Yes, phrased as what you want offered and what you will ask for yourself. "Please do not offer pain medication; I will ask" and "I plan to have an epidural when I ask for it" are both common and both respected.
Should I include a cesarean section in my plan if I'm planning a vaginal birth?
Yes. Roughly a third of US births are cesareans, many unplanned. A short block written calmly now (partner present, drape, skin to skin, who goes with the baby) means you are not deciding those things in the moment.