Would I be mad to go into hospital without a birthplan? And also to not attend hospital tour?

[hattyyellow]

I had my twins 3 years ago by elective section due to breech positioning. Didn't have a birth plan, the midwives asked DH if I wanted to breastfeed and brought the babies into me as soon as I woke up from GA.

This time around I am hoping for VBAC. I hate to sound gormless but when I try and write a birthplan I feel that having never even experienced a contraction, I have no idea what I will want or how I will react to the pain and therefore what drugs/intervention I may or may not want/may be recommended to have.

I assume they will ask me if I want to breastfeed, so I don't know if I need to write a long paragraph about that. I'd like to have skin to skin as soon as possible, but I presume this would only not be done if there was something that needed to be checked/problems - in which case I'd rather that got sorted out first.

Is it hopelessly naive to go with the flow and ask for things as I need them/am advised to have them? I don't want to set myself up to expect things to go a certain way and to then feel let down that they haven't. I'm positive that I have a good chance of achieving a VBAC but I'm also being realistic that it might not happen and I might end up having another section. Particulary as the hospital will not induce me if I go overdue due to the previous section.

Re the hospital tour, its on a Sunday in 2 weeks when I'll be 38+ weeks. We have no one to look after DC that day, so I'd have to go up by myself and our nearest hospital is a long drive and I'm knackered and uncomfortable when driving at the moment. We went on the hospital tour last time around when we had the twins (different hospital) so I've seen labour rooms, wards and operating theatre for sections, plus the SCBU unit. I'm presuming this hospital is pretty much the same, size and age of facilities are similar.

Again, should I go? Any advice/experiences?

I have never had a birth plan (had 3 babies) because I'm in France and people don't write them here. My DH was well briefed in the things I really did and didn't want. But in your shoes I'd just write a few lines on the things that are important to you (eg skin to skin), and go with the flow for the rest.

As for the hospital tour, as long as you know where on D-day, I wouldn't bother if it's going to be a big hassle. One hospital is much like another, as you say.

where to go on d-day

My carefully considered birth plan didn't even come out of my hospital bag, so I don't think they're particularly necessary.

And I think Castille's right about the hospital - it's not as if you've never been in a maternity unit before.

Never done either.

If your getting a CS you should be able to say what you want anyway.

I had c section then VBAC, I didn't write a plan for either. I thought the same; what the hell do I know about labouring?

To be honest, if I got PG again I'd have a few requests - one in particular being that I wanted a quiet room to labour in as doctors, midwives, nurses etc bustling in and chatting really put me off my focus. Otherwise, like you say, you haven't a clue what may or may not happen.

I didn't ahve a birth plan
on that page I wrote

have a baby

(a good plan I thought)

I didn't write a birthplan for ds, because dd's birth didn't go according to plan and it just seemed like setting myself up to fail. In the event I had the exact birth I would have chosen. I think the process of writing a birth plan is more helpful than actually having it available during the birth. A birth partner who knows your preferences is more important.

Have you actually been to the hospital before? Do you know where you have to go when you arrive in labour? At my hospital there were two different labour areas, one had pools and was midwife-led, one had pain relief and doctors. Turning left or right at the top of the stairs as you arrived could have had quite a big impact on one's birth experience (not that you weren't allowed to move but you're not always thinking that clearly under these circumstances). So I'd personally do the tour, but if you have been there for scans etc and are familiar with the layout then it's probably not that important.

i wouild go visit so you see it calmly and objectively, and not when racing around thinking oh my god baby coming

birth plan- really a few well written conscise bullet points will suffice.dont need a huge wolloping battle plan

do consider

• analgesia

-do you want students

• skin contact post birth
• who cut cord
• Vit K injection for baby
• feeding plan

do consider a what if plan...not being alarmist but

if baby go scbu do you want husband to accompany or stay with you

if another cs indicated, discussion etc

not all SCBU are same or have range of facilities.they range form scbu,hdu, to NICU.but not all hosps have NICU so transfer may be necessary

No.

I wrote copious notes for DS#1. I attended a whistlestop tour of the maternity ward which left me no better off in terms of knowledge.

Birth plan went out of the window more or less. My mw was fine, very flexible amd supportive, but in the end I was overwhelmed and was happy to go with what she said.

Second and third time I was in control so was able to say exactly what was and wasn't going to happen.

However I would pay a visit to the maternity ward at least to get a fix on where to go on the day.

I find birth plans more useful before you give birth.

I've written them for all of my births, and I think the most useful part was going over it with my practitioner before hand. They get a picture of how I would like the birth to go and in a way get some insight into me. It also shows them that I've looked into my options and I'm well informed. We also discuss what hospital policies are versus my plan and change it together.

Definately take the tour and make your dh pay attention on how to get there. Mine wasn't paying attention, so he called me on my cell phone (came from work) having no idea where to go, wandering around the hospital.

I didn't have a birth plan although in retrospect it would have consisted of four words written in big bold letters, 'I WANT A EDIPURAL!!!!'.

To be honest I didn't know what to expect the first time and I didn't really know what to write so I didn't write anything. I found the ante natal midwife rather unhelpful. I had wanted an epidural from the outset but when I said it I was met with such derision I didn't feel I could bring it up again (and certainly not commit it to paper!!).

When I arrived at the hospital and asked for an epidural I was told the anaethatist was unavailble and when I asked again I was told I was too close to giving birth (5 hrs before I actually did). I felt I was lied to but tbh a carefully written birth plan wouldn't have made any difference.

Second time still wanted an epidural in theory but as I was in labour for an hour and a half we never got a chance and I really didn't need it.

Didn't bother with the hospital tour at all even with the first. You've seen one hospital bed you've seen them all. I thought the idea of a tour in the first place was very also a bit odd imo.

Also thinking back I don't think anyone ever even asked me if I had a birthplan and I can't help but feel it's a bit of a con to give pregnant women something to do whilst pregnant.

I didn't have a birth plan with dd2 for the simple fact that i messed up my birthing plan with dd1 by saying 'no pain relief' (the worst mistake i could have made). With dd2 i wanted to wait and see how i felt once i got to the hospital and then decide what pain relief i would want.

MKG is right - it's worth ^thinking about all these things even if you don;t have a 'plan' at the end of it

and re things like assuming you'll get skin-to-skin unless something's wrong - never assume anything like that. Some women are knackered after the birth and want dh to hold the baby etc

your MWs won't have a clue what you want unless you tell them, and as labour can be a bit preoccupying it';s handy to have this kind of thing written down so people don;t ask you stupid qiiuestions or, worse, assume and get it wrong

Bullet points will do

and re never having laboured before - remember all first timers who write a birth plan are doing so with no experience of labour or birth at all!

I didn't bother with a birth plan with either dc. Not my cup of tea. Insofar as there was a plan it was: go in, have baby as quickly as possible, leave again.

I took the view that I could just say what I wanted to happen - or not to happen - on the day, and I wouldn't really know what I wanted until it happened, particularly the first time.

Thanks so much all, this is all really helpful. I have made a few bullet points, re wanting skin to skin and wanting to breastfeed.

Pain relief I'm still vague about as I just don't know what I'm going to want!

Good points I hadn't though of re who cuts cord, students present, vitamin k injection -will have a think.

I know that if I have another section it'll be under GA again as I have problems with low platelets and clotting when pregnant, so there's not a lot I can put for that.

The hospital we know quite well as I've had a lot of consultant appts there during this pregnancy due to various concerns the consultant had - so we know how to get there and where the labour ward is. Am tempted not to go.

Thanks so much all, I really appreciate your thoughts and experiences and relieved to see I'm not insane to not have a long typed plan in my hospital bag.

hatty - think of it as less of a 'plan' and more 'preferences'. There will be things that you get asked in labour and afterwards that it's helpful to have considered before you're in the thick of it - ScottishMummy's list of bullet points is good.

I had DS at home last time, birthplan was v short. I didn't rule out pain relief as didn't know how I would feel - think I put that I wanted to ask for it rather than have it offered. I was pleasantly surprised that all the people who I saw during labour did at least glance over the birthplan (had been convinced beforehand that they were a bit of a waste of time...)

birth plan?
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

sorry [get me coat icon]

I didn't have birth plans-I don't think they are in the least necessary-much better to be flexible on the day.

Don't bother with a written plan. Go with the flow, the midwife will talk to you (hopefully!) throughout labour and you'll be asked about pain relief, vit k, skin to skin, cord cutting and so on as you go. I felt a bit naive for not writing one but glad now I didn't bother. I would have written 'give me an epidural' and 'avoid an episiotomy'. In the end suprised myself by managing with gas and air alone but then needed ventous and episiotomy to get dd out.

But do visit the maternity unit. You'll feel more at ease when the day comes if you've visited. I found this helped a lot with making me relaxed and calm. If you can't make it that sunday could you give the hospital a ring and ask if you could book a visit?

Do you know how you're going to be monitored in labour? Do you have any feelings about that? Some VBAC women choose not to have continuous monitoring because they feel it restricts their mobility and makes a repeat CS more likely.

Do you have strong feelings about birth positions? The majority of women in the UK give birth sitting on their bottoms on the bed. Lots - surprisingly - give birth in stirrups. Is this something you have thought about? A lot of c-section mums who achieve a vbac end up with ventouse or forceps, and an episiotomy - partly because their mobility is impaired by being monitored and partly because midwives sometimes rush them through second stage because they are anxious about scar rupture. You don't have to lie on the bed to be monitored or give birth on your back, but you might have to be pro-active if you want to do anything else.... in other words - you might want to write something about this on your birthplan.

I was really bad - I didn't do any birth plan at all and I never went on the hospital tour.

I must say, I don't feel like it made a blind bit of difference. I was very easy going about how I wanted things to go - it was my first baby and I had no clue what to expect. I decided that it was better to just go with the flow and see what was going to happen (which was good because nothing about my birth went in the way I had expected anyway!)

I didn't miss out on anything by not going on the tour. By the time I was in labour and in pain, I didn't even notice what my surroundings looked like!

You could also consider whether you'd prefer a managed 3rd stage or not.

I'd agree that birth plans are probably more important for the process of writing them than for being in the room. I knew my MWs well; my birth plans was "to have my baby as quickly and easily as possible", but we'd covered most of the other stuff in conversation previously.

I'd also make sure your DH is well briefed - I went totally into myself during labour. I was completely aware of what was going on and what people were saying, but I really REALLY didn't want to have to talk.