A birth plan is your plan of how you envision your birth and what happens directly following the birth of your baby. A birth plan allows you to make choices. You get to choose where you want to have your baby, who you want to be there, what procedures are done to you, and what procedures are done to your baby. If you don’t make these choices someone else will make them for you. You know your body, your lifestyle, your preferences, and your priorities better than anyone. A birth plan is really more than a piece of paper you hand to your care provider. It is the process you go through to prepare for the birth experience you want. The importance of a birth plan has a lot more to do with the process of writing it than it does with the finished product. How your birth unfolds, and how you and your baby experience it, are a direct result of your planning ahead.