Did you do a birth plan?

[ALR123]

Had my 28 week midwife appointment today, totally forgot to ask her about doing a birth plan and she didn't mention it. I have no idea what my options are and am a but confused and don't know if I even need a plan? If so when do they get done normally?
I'm not starting my nct antenatal course till I'm 35 weeks so I wasn't sure how things work. Thanks!

[Stinkilinky]

I did a plan... It all went out the window once I went into labour though!

[winchester1]

Nope never bothered.

I did research meds and interventions and tell my OH (made him repeat it back to me several times in a revision/exam like situation )
It went much more calmly and I just told them what I wanted both times.

[randomsabreuse]

Didn't bother - had no idea what giving birth was going to be like so planned to wait and see- glad I did as it was so quick in the end.

[pickleandflux]

I told my midwife that my plan is to have the baby by whatever means necessary to have it done safely. I don't think that having a rigid plan is a good idea, as no doubt my body and the baby will be doing their own thing! Don't think the midwife was very impressed, but that's how I feel. Don't want to get my hopes up, then feel a failure if the birth doesn't follow a particular plan. Each to their own I guess.

[LetThereBeCupcakes]

I think there's a template on the nhs website. I found it quite helpful as it gave me chance to think about things and let DH know my preferences. It covers things like are they any drugs you don't want, do you want skin to skin ASAP and so on. So long as you don't stress about following the plan I think it's useful.

[Florin]

No didn't see the point when you have no idea how it will go. I ended up with a very quick labour so no time for water or pain relief. I didn't even have my hospital bag as no chance to get it out of the car! Do your research but then just go with the flow.

[Onsera3]

Yeah it does pretty much go out the window. I do find it good to discuss what you want to do immed after- eg cord clamping- will it be delayed, do you want injection etc so you can work out what you will request.

[Uptownfuckuup]

yes my plan was

give me what i want
please don't talk to me
and ill take/ do anything to benefit the baby

[hedgehogsdontbite]

I had one. Very detailed it was. Unfortunately nobody told the baby and he had other ideas.

[scandichick]

I did, I think it helps you think through different scenarios even if it doesn't happen the way you'd like it to. NCT has a good template as well.

[ALR123]

Haha! Okay thank you i don't feel as disorganised now. I'd like a water birth (or at least to do part of it in the water if possible). How would I arrange that? Or do I just turn up in labour and hope one is available?
I'll do my research about my options and then bear in mind I probably won't use any of it

[starsinyourpies]

Yes.

Ha ha ha ha.

Plan should be 'get baby out safely please'. We did manage that.

[CharleyDavidson]

I didn't write a plan the first time round as I had no clue what was going to happen anyway. I think you have less of a chance of being disappointed of 'not getting the birth experience that you want' if you don't have a strict birth plan.

My second birth plan had one sentence on it in red pen. :) It said 'Don't leave me alone immediately after birth' because the first time round I nearly bled to death and there was no midwife around as it was a busy night and they were overstretched.

It wasn't needed as it was all well the 2nd time round.

[Mintyy]

Yes, fairly detailed and carefully considered birth plan for first baby. It went totally out the window before labour even properly got going and catastrophe struck (thank God I was in hospital).

Didn't bother with the second as had elective c-section.

[HippyChickMama]

1st time yes, it didn't go to plan though. 2nd time around it just said 'absolutely NO pethidine!'

[Watto1]

I did one with my first DC. It stayed in my bag throughout the entire proceedings without even being glanced at. I didn't bother with DC 2.

[KwikQ]

Yes...and it went out the window completely. I seriously doubt anyone other than me and my DH read it.

[MrsBartlettforthewin]

I had a basic one each time - just things I hoped for/ really didn't want. With DC2 I had noted in big letter that I did not under any circumstances want pethidine (spelling) other than that just went with it both times. Both times very different experiences though wanted basically the same thing each time.

[ToadsforJustice]

I did a birth plan for DS1. This was a pointless exercise as it stayed in my bag. No one asked for it. I really don't understand why you are asked again and again to complete one by every MW you see and then no one reads it and your wishes get ignored anyway.

[Runningupthathill82]

I did one. Like others, it went completely out of the window. I'm so embarrassed to think about it now. I'd specified drugs I didn't want, before having a clue how I'd feel while actually giving birth. It was a work of fantasy on a par with Lord of the Rings.

My plan for #2 is "please get this baby out safely."

[Dixiechick17]

I didn't go through my birth plan with my midwife until I was either 36 or 38 weeks. Water birth will depend on your hospital. My hospital had a midwife led unit with five rooms, each of which had a pool and then the other labour ward downstairs which only had one birthing pool.

My midwife did a risk assessment at 38 weeks and put me down as low risk and able to contact the midwife led unit when I went into labour.

Plan wise... I said No pethidine, delayed cord clamping (turned out that my hospital do this as standard), skin to skin and an injection to speed up the delivery of the placenta. I didn't plan anymore than that because I was aware of how unpredictable labour could be.

Thankfully I was on the midwife led unit, able to try the pool and managed without pain relief as it was a relatively short labour.

[Dogsmom]

With dd1 my midwife filled mine out, it was on the back of my green notes, it was simple stuff like whether I wanted dh to cut the cord, pain relief preferences etc

The only thing I asked was could they wipe her down a bit first as I was squeamish about the gunk!
With dd2 I didn't bother doing one.

[LibrariesGaveUsP0wer]

Mine got longer with each baby. But mostly with stuff I learned about how I labour .

They are helpful if you think of them as a tree. If you end up on the branch of x then y matters. Eg if we are both poorly tell DH I want him to go with the baby.

[SomeonesRealName]

Yes I had one but it was very flexible and addressed all eventualities not ruling anything out and saying "if x then I think I would prefer y but I'm open to z". As pp have said it was useful for things like the vit k, third stage, skin to skin - and it said stuff like DH should go with the baby if we had to be separated and I couldn't communicate. Every single hcp who came into contact with me read it and some of them who weren't there for the birth itself but saw me again afterwards commented on how things had gone compared to the plan -so they are definitely not always ignored.