ELCS birth plan

[partofyoupoursoutofme]

I'm booked for an ELCS in a couple of weeks, and am wondering what I should consider putting in my birth plan. 3 years ago I had a failed homebirth, failed forceps and emcs so totally different expectations this time
What should I think about? I've not really been told anything my midwife or doctors, and think that other mum's experiences are more likely to be informative tbh!

I am having an ELCS on Friday, it's my second. I haven't really written an actually birth plan as such. You should have a pre-op meeting/s with the doctors etc where they will ask you a bunch of questions about yourself but give you information about the procedure.

Thanks for your reply. My pre-op is booked for the day before the section so hoping to get info about things a bit before then if anyone has any suggestions or experience?

Good luck on Friday @SephrinaX

I had an elective in September. In the pre-op, they asked if we wanted my husband to cut the cord, if we wanted baby to have the vitamin K injection, and if we wanted baby to come straight to me for skin to skin. They also talked me through the procedure and showed me a video of the spinal. We chose our own music in theatre too! Good luck, my elective was a really positive experience and very different to my previous emergency section x

Thanks @BabloHoney, that's really useful. I am mostly hoping for a peaceful experience, and being aware of my baby being born this time. I didn't know dads could cut the cord in a section!

I've got a section in my birth preferences should I need a C section, I've asked for immediate skin to skin so can they put any pads on my back to not get in the way. I want the baby to be bought to me before cleaning and weighing etc. Things like partner cutting the cord, him telling me the gender as per my vaginal preferences. I've also asked for my own music to be playing.

Research 'gentle caesarean', they're amazing. They make an incision and then allow the baby to squeeze itself out much like a vaginal birth!

The surgeons are the ones to separate baby from placenta. But the remaining cord attached to the baby is deliberately left long, so that Dad/midwife/you (if everything is going well) can trim the cord down.

Otherwise we do all we can to accommodate patient preference. If you want your own music, we advise downloading it beforehand (wi-fi can be really poor in theatres) and bringing a portable speaker. The speakers on phones can only do so much, and there's no guarantee there will be one in the theatre.

Good luck for your section. 😘

My consultant wrote my "elective" birth plan because I wanted a general anethestic and she was trying to gently persuade me otherwise. I went into labour early and the plan ended up being followed to the letter.

Husband to hold me for the spinal. Drape to be positioned as low down my torso as possible to make plenty of space for the baby. Drape dropped once baby was ready to come out so we could watch. Delayed cord clamping. Baby passed to midwife for a two second rub down and then given to me for skin to skin. All measurements/vit K to be given in recovery.

I'd recommend asking for one arm out of your gown. I ended up with the anesthetist yanking mine off me and it hurt. They also wanted me to take the placenta home and had "kindly" put in a box for that express purpose. I got a good look at it though.

Compared to my first which was horrible, it was an amazing experience and I fell head over heels with dd before she was even fully out of me, all stuck up hair and grumpy face with her legs still moving under my skin. It was both surreal and beautiful.

Good luck.

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and experience everyone, it's really helped xx