A birth plan is a road map for your entire childbirth experience, beginning to end. It's your chance to let everyone involved (doctors, nurses, partners) know what you want the experience to be. Anything you have definitive expectations about should be outlined in your birth plan, from your wishes regarding pain relief to specifications for how your newborn is fed and cared for in the hospital. Use it to chart the course of labor and delivery, but remember that you might have to take alternate routes occasionally depending on conditions.