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Birth Preferences Builder

Not a script for how your birth has to go. Births change course, often, and that isn't a failure of planning. This is a way to tell your care team what matters to you — and what would still help if things need to change.

Built for the Irish maternity system. Fill in only what's useful to you; skip anything that doesn't apply. The PDF you download will contain only the parts you've completed. Availability of some options (birth pools, certain kinds of pain relief) varies between units — worth checking what's offered where you're booked.

Your privacy, plainly

Everything you type stays inside your own browser, on this device. Nothing is sent to Klara, to Éalú Psychotherapy, or to any server. There is no account, no sign-up, no email capture, no cookies and no analytics on this page.

That means nobody but you ever sees what you write here, including the sensitive parts. The PDF is created by your own browser, not by us.

If you're using a shared or public computer, close this tab when you're finished.

Nothing is saved automatically. If you close or refresh this page, what you've written is gone — and we can't recover it, because we never had it. Download your PDF before you leave.

About you and your care
Things my team needs to know

Clinical facts that should be visible at a glance, not buried in a chart.

What came before

Only if it's relevant to you. A previous difficult birth, or a loss, changes what this birth means — and your team can only account for that if they know. This is often the most useful section on the page. As much or as little as you want.

How I want to be spoken to and treated

This section carries as much weight as any preference below it. It is often what makes the difference between a hard birth and a traumatic one.

Environment
Coping and pain relief

A starting position, not a commitment. You can change your mind at any point, and changing your mind is not a failure. Not every unit offers every option — remifentanil, mobile epidurals and birth pools in particular vary from hospital to hospital.

Monitoring and interventions

In a genuine emergency the team will act. These are preferences for everything short of that.

If I have a caesarean

Whether it's planned or decided in the moment, much of this can still be accommodated.

Delivering the placenta
Third stage
The first hour
Vitamin K for baby (offered to every baby in Ireland)
Feeding
If my baby needs extra care

If your baby needs the neonatal unit, what matters most can get lost in the rush. Say it here, in advance.

If things change

Most births depart from the plan somewhere. This section carries as much weight as every preference above it — it's what you'd want to still be true even if none of the rest of this page happens the way you hoped.

After, and going home

Your browser will open a print window — choose Save as PDF as the destination. Only the sections you've filled in will appear. Bring a printed copy with you; charts and phones both have a way of being unavailable at the moment you need them.

Thinking about the birth ahead can bring up more than logistics, particularly when a previous birth or a loss is sitting behind it. That's what antenatal and Birth Story Sessions with Klara are for.