is this an okay birth plan?

[yellowflowers]

I don't really have much I want to put on my birth plan - is it okay just to turn up with the below? Is there anything else I need to say - in terms of position and pain relief etc I thought I would just take it as it comes and see what happens.

Names:

My name is xxx.

My husband?s name is xxxx.

Please call us xx and xx.

Cannula/drip:

I have been suffering from Carpel Tunnel Syndrome and need as much free movement of my hands and arms as possible. Please do not put any cannulas or drips into my hands if they can go elsewhere.

Birth partner:

Where possible I would like my husband to be with me at all times.

Vitamin K:

I am happy for the baby to have the Vitamin K injection

Delivery of placenta:

I would prefer the cord to stop pulsing before the placenta is delivered. After this I am happy to have a managed third stage.

You couls also say in it what you say in your post about seeing how the positions and pain relief go on the day.

You're very relaxed, which is really good. In mine I put everything I knew I didn't want to happen so it was written down somewhere in case I wasn't able to vocalise my point at the time. As long as you're happy with it that's all that matters

Sounds good. Worth putting like GruffalosGirl says about your lack of preference for positions/pain relief.

Do you have any opinions/preferences for place if birth, monitoring (internals, CTG/doppler etc) any special requests if you needs a CS, and care/feeding of the baby afterwards?

thank you - they are good tips

Something like this?

I would like to breastfeed the baby and if this is not possible for the baby to be fed with my own expressed breast milk if possible. If this is not possible then I would like help in expressing milk so that I can attempt to breastfeed at a later date.

Is this your first?

Hate to say it, but no one will read your birthplan.
I came across mine for ds1 he other month. Oh how I laughed...

Not true NigellaTufnel - after a shift change during my labour my DH grabbed the new mw and said how unhappy we were about the care we'd received so far and literally handed her a copy of my birth plan and stood there while she read it and talked through all the main issues. After that our care very much improved and the mw did a heck of a lot to ensure my wishes were respected and made sure the 2nd mw was aware of the things we wanted like skin-2-skin post birth etc.

I think it's invaluable to have all the things you defo want/don't want to happen written down in case you're unable to verbalise those wishes at the time.

Sounds good re the breastfeeding yellowflowers...although I'd change 'would like to breastfeed' to 'will be breastfeeding'...but that's my personal preference ...you may not feel as strongly as I about it LOL.

I'm working on my birth plan atm and after a reading a few examples on the net found it sounded better to change 'the baby' to 'our baby' or 'my baby' ...IMO it reminds the HP's that it is your baby and therefore need your permission to do anything

I have to say the MW's had read my birth plan and all knew what was in there on my first labour. Anything that couldn't be done the way I had requested in there was discussed with me and the reasons why. I was a homebirth that transferred though so that might be why.

The mws and then the consultant read my birth plan thoroughly. Not a jot of it could be done in the end, but they let me know why all the way through and in line with my plan, all stuff was discussed with me.

Your plan sounds fine. good luck!

I would also say make sure you discuss your plan with your dh so he is aware of what you do and don't want.

My birth plan was read thoroughly by both sets of midwives (had a shift change during) and the only minor deviations from my plan were discussed nd agreed with me before they came anywhere near me

If you've got a while to go then I would really recommend this book

It is good to hear that people had good experiences with birth plan, and then it is good idea to have one.

But please, just be prepared that it go out the window if things move in a different direction, or that in some cases , sadly, the MWs will ignore it.

Two births, two different hospitals, two different groups of professionals not reading it.

I agree with you Nigella - mine was completely ignored! I felt a bit silly even bothering with one in the end so with this pregnancy I won't!

I think it's pretty realistic - at least you're not banging on about scented candles and which track of the CD you wish to be played as your angel floats out on to a soft white towel.

When the time comes there's only one thing that matters, and that's the delivery of a healthy baby - no point upsetting yourself by not following a bunch of gumph you typed out.