So you have made the decision to give birth the natural way. Although childbirth is a very natural process in itself, you have chosen to give birth unmedicated and with as few interventions as possible. In order to achieve your goal, there is a lot of planning that needs to take place. The following is a good list of things that you should include in your plan:

• Talk to your spouse, partner, or support person. This is very important. Otherwise, during the excitement, if you lose control even for a moment, your partner may order the drugs!
• Research childbirth classes in your area and decide on the method you wish to use to help control your pain naturally. There are a lot of choices and birthing styles. You may want to do your homework on some of your options, like Lamaze, the Bradley method, hypnosis, water birth, meditation and many more.
• Create a birth plan. You can look for a starter plan online or you can start from scratch and create your own. You will want to start with a firm statement of your desire and what you would like your physician and support people to do in a moment of weakness if you decide you can no longer endure the pain. You will want to include interventions that are acceptable and interventions that are not. For instance, you may agree to an IV but perhaps you are opposed to an episiotomy.
• Don't leave out preparing for the unexpected. While you can't possibly plan for any and all emergencies, you can at least prepare yourself mentally for the possibility that things won't go according to plan. Although this may seem unnecessary, it will do wonders for your pschye if worse should come to worse.