Birth plan?!?

[TommyShelby]

Hi everyone,

Has anyone got any advice about writing a birth plan? I’m currently 34 weeks with my first baby and I have no idea where to start!

Op there a preference list at best. Mine was just keep bbay safe and least pain possible, didn't want to be on my back.
Mine turned into less than 4 hour labour, no time for any drugs at all, lots of post birth surgery. Baby boy was safe thanks to the interventions but it was far from ideal.
Be prepared to change things as needed.

This is all really helpful, thanks everyone.

Slightly off topic - I am hoping to give birth in the MLU (unless Covid has ideas about closing it down... thanks 2020 ) and I know that my pain relief options are limited there. The only one I don’t know much about is pethidine. Would anyone recommend/ not recommend this for any reason?

The only thing I know is my mum had it and hated it. It seems to make you feel quite out of it which would freak me out.

I found it great! I put all my preferences down to cover all eventualities (vb, c-section etc), if for no other reason than to remind my DH when the time came. Once I got to hospital (mw led unit) I was so focused on the contractions it didnt cross my mind, that is until I asked for some pain relief and the midfwife assured me I was doing really well/didnt need it and reminded me thats what I'd written down (I got by with the 1 codein she offered me, which looking back I was really happy she helped me stick to my wishes). So DH was a star and handed her it on our arrival, she followed the rest of it as best she could with no instruction from me and it meant she didnt have to ask lots of questions when I wasnt in a state to answer them! So I'd say always do one just in case but as others have said things might not go to plan so be open to changes out of your control. Search on here or google for ideas of what to include if you're not sure. I'll be doing one again this time even though I'm planning a home birth, just in case it comes in handy again

@TommyShelby I was adamant that I wasn't going to have pethadine because it can make you vomit. I soon changed my mind when I was in horrific pain. I did, in fact, projectile vomit from it a while after and I couldn't have cared a jot. It knocked me out until I had my epidural a few hours later - the holy grail in my opinion.

Having birth preferences for me is useful because it means I've looked at all the options and decided what I'd prefer. It's kind of ranking how you'd prefer things to go.