do I need a birth plan

[lilysmemo]

I had a quick (3 hour) labour with my first baby and am hoping for the same or quicker with my next one ( 6 weeks away). The birth plan was irrelevant last time , as were the antenatal classes. Should i write one ? is it necessary or should i trust the staff to do their best for me as they are the professionals?

Having given birth before, you are likely to be more realistic in your expectations this time. You may have been very fortunate last time in that the opinions of your HCPs matched your own opinions and instincts, but this time you may have different people looking after you, and what seems appropriate to them could be totally wrong for you -even if they feel it is in your best interests. So you may well find that a birth plan could be relevant.

Hope it all goes swimmingly for you

thank you - are there any guidelines etc for what should be in a birth plan? not really sure where to begin- last birth was 13 years ago , and this is my OH's 1st, lucky him

I think its worth having gone through the process of a birth plan just so that you (and your OH) have had a chance to think through various options. IMO the key points you need to cover include:

• Who will be your birth partner(s)? (are there any people who should be specifically excluded)

• Do you have any opinions on internal exams? Are you happy to have them 4 hourly, or do you want a more definitive reason?

• What pain relief do you think you'll want, would accept if required? Would you accept an opiate under any circumstances?

• Where do you expect to give birth? On the bed? On you knees? In water? Staying active?

• Would you accept induction? When? Would you accept augmentation purely for a labour the hospital consider too long?

• Are you (and your OH) aware of the circumstances that may necessitate an assisted delivery?

• Do you want a managed or physiological 3rd stage?

• Do you plan to breast or bottle feed?

Some of them may be non-issues for you and there may be other things that are important, but I felt much more in control of things by knowing that I had an idea of what was (or could) go on, and having an idea of what my preferences would be in certain circumstances (accepting it might all go to pot on the day!)

Good luck

Don't mean to undermine Tangle and everyone is different but IMHO, Nah, not really. You could maybe jot a couple of key points down on a bit of paper if you want, eg the things you feel really strongly about (no pethidene or whatever) but in my experience, it's better to go with the flow and I'm not sure a lot of the MW read it anyway. Besides, most of the time you are perfectly capable of articulating between contractions what you want and don't want.

Unless you have your third in a frenzied hour and are howling at the moon so much you don't really care about a plan anyway...

Sorry. Not trying to be glib. Just think going in with an open mind makes you less tense. What will be, will be.

Good luck. xx

(That 3rd baby and howling at the moon bit was me btw!)

In lots of ways I actually agree - and I meant to say (before DH demanded his laptop back...) that you may not want to write it down.

That said, with DD1 I didn't bother as I had IMs and had gone through it all with them before hand. Even though DD was 9lb 12 and breech I quite enjoyed giving birth - and I think one of the reasons is that I didn't have to try and talk to people about anything. The bit of me that is "me" totally took a back seat to the primal part of me that knew how to birth a baby. With DD2 I was induced in hospital and it was a very different experience - one thing I found much harder was having to try and engage with all the differenent MWs and Drs, to take in what they were saying, ask any questions and give them a yes or no answer.

Everyone is different, every birth is different, and an open mind is extremely useful. Having a written birth plan doesn't mean you have to bring it out, but knowing its there may help. For me, the process of writing it (or thinking about it - I think my actual one for DD1 read "to have this baby as quickly and easily as possible") was the important bit - and it certainly helped DH understand my concerns and preferences. You have to do what's right for you

I never made one, they just seem to go straight out the window as soon as it all gets going anyway. I think they just set people up for disappointment.

Tangle, that's a good point. I think if you are getting induced or are having a C section then these sorts of factors are more important. I also agree that the process of writing it down is good for yourself.

Hmm, I wonder if that's the REAL reason they get women to do them...

Must ask friend who is a midwife!

thank you so much for your views . I think I will at the very least have a good chat with my OH so he can articulate for me- although generally I have the trousers on . As long as he understands what I definately do not want ( c section , epidural, inducement) then i hope it will all go swimmingly- that is if baby doesn't decide to turn up on our bathroom floor before we've had a chance to get to the hospital .

My birth plan for DS2 was as follows.

I want to stay upright and not lying down.

I don't want anybody to tell me the sex of the baby, I want to see for myself.

I want to breastfeed as soon after the birth as possible.

It was small things that were important to me and was in with my notes. I had a 4 hr first birth, second was 1 hr 45 minutes, so I knew I didn't need complex notes.