Birth Plan?

[theonlyhb2]

What IS a birth plan? I keep reading how I should have mine all written out and pinned to the front of my notes, but what do I need to plan, apart from;

"Get baby out ASAP and go home for a sleep."

What are your birth plans?

Hi theonlyhb2! Your birth plan is basically how you want the birth to go (what pain relief you would like, who you want there, who you want to cut the cord, if you want skin to skin with baby immediately, if you want to breast feed straight away, if you want to be mobile during labour, use the birthing pool etc...!) With my DS I went in with no birth plan and was given pethadine as pain relief. Everyone is different, but I really didn't like it. I was VERY spaced out (which was nice) but my memory of my ds actually being born is a bit blurry as is the hour or so that followed. I wish I had've been more with it when I held him for the first time. SO with DD I specifically said I, under no circumstances, wanted pethadine or any variation of it.
I waffled on a bit there-sorry!
Good luck with it all! xxx

Hi this is a long post so please forgive me. Here is a copy of my birth plan

In General

I plan to give birth in a Birthing pool, at the hospital. I hope to use the birthing pool throughout labour and birth, with the use of acupuncture, if necessary. If a birthing pool is not available, then I wish to be allowed to walk around and stay mobile for as long as possible. I do not want to be laid on my back for the birth.

I plan on having my husband and my Mother in the room with me. My husband and I will be using hypnotherapy and relaxation techniques. We would like a natural birth and would really appreciate a quiet and calm environment. Please be assured that you will have our full co-operation in the event of a medical circumstance, subject to having discussed things.

The Labour

We would like to allow labour and delivery to progress at its own pace, and would appreciate having no time pressures as far as possible, or procedures based solely on the passing of time. If all else is well with the baby and me, we are happy to wait while nature takes its course. I do not want an injection / drugs just to speed up the delivery if there are no signs of distress to my baby.

I hope to manage without drugs for pain relief, and I plan to use hypnotherapy with the help of DH. However, I am not ruling out the use of drugs but would only like to use if necessary and with the advice and assistance of medical staff.

I understand that labour can slow down or even stop for around an hour between stage two and three, please allow a passive hour to enable me to stay relaxed and listen to my body's cues as to when baby is ready to be helped into the world. I do not want to have any use of fundal pressure.

The Birth

When the baby is born, please pass him straight to me to lay on my chest. I would like DH to remain in the room with us so we can bond together as a family. DH would like to cut the cord. I would like the cord clamped and cut when it stops pulsating. I wish no drugs to be used unless specifically needed. It is important to me that you do not clamp the cord until it has stopped pulsating, unless you need to take emergency steps which preclude this.

Care of the Baby

If possible I would rather have baby with me for at least an hour after birth, before any weighing and cleaning etc. I would like to breastfeed my baby as soon as possible after the birth.

If, for some reason, I am medically unwell and unable to have skin-to-skin contact with my baby I would like DH to have skin-to-skin contact with him.

We are happy for the baby to receive Vitamin K.

Other Information

If an epidural is unavoidable I would prefer to have a mobile epidural if at all possible.

I am very keen to avoid a caesarean section if it is at all possible. I particularly would like to avoid a caesarean just for slow progress. If labour is simply taking a long time but my baby is not in immediate danger, please would you encourage me to keep going and perhaps to try changes of position or movements which might help. Please do not offer a caesarean unless my baby is in danger.

If a caesarean section becomes necessary, I would prefer to remain awake with epidural or spinal block anaesthesia. I would like DH to stay with me at all times, and would like to breastfeed the baby as soon after birth as possible.

Please do not give my baby supplements of glucose water or formula milk without my
permission. I would expressly like to avoid having any formula supplements unless it is unavoidable, and certainly not in the first two days in any event.

If I have trouble breastfeeding, I would greatly appreciate the help of a midwife who is fully supportive of breastfeeding.

Thank you so much for reading this and helping us to have the birth we are hoping for.

Hope the above helps you. Your plan can be as simple or as detailed as you want it to be. Good luck x

To me, a birth plan is more a chance to consider how you feel about various aspects of birth. For any given intervention are you happy to have it whenever, only in certain circumstances, never?

Believing that you can plan a birth and "that's what will happen" is a recipe for disappointment - but having considered what's important to you and what you think you'll do if circumstances change puts you in a much stronger position to have an experience that is (however tenuously) under your control.

DD1's birth went pretty well according to plan:
"to have this baby at home, as quickly and easily as possible".

We used IM's and so had discussed all sorts of things before hand so didn't feel the need to put in writing our feelings on VE's, 3rd stage, Vit K, etc, as it had already been covered.

We'd hoped DD2's birth would be similar, but it wound up being very different (induced in hospital and downhill from there) - but by having considered assorted things already and by being proactive in asking questions we came out feeling that the experience was as positive as it could have been in the circumstances.

However detailed your plan, we found the NCT phrase of "remember to use your BRAINS" very useful, with an extra on the front:

Do we have Time to Talk?
What are the Benefits?
What are the Risks?
What are the Alternatives?
What does my Intuition say?
What happens if we do Nothing for now?
Smile!

Having a series of questions ready to run with really helped DH and I to remember firstly that we were actually allowed to ask questions, and secondly that what happened was our (ultimately, my) decision. Having already considered a lot of issues and scenarios we felt able to make informed choices about the way the birth went - and felt that engaging them in a discussion made it easier for the MW's and consultants to respect our right to do so.

Good luck :)

My 1st Birth plan was very detailed with regards to who I wanted with me, use of birthing pool, position of birth, method of birth, items to be with me (CD player, candles and so on) etc, the only thing that actually went to plan with regards to my birth plan is the absence of an epidural and C-section. Everything else went out the window. I ended up giving birth on my back, legs in stirrups, had my waters broken for me, I had a consultant, 5 students and 2 midwives as well as my partner and mum all watching the delivery...! I had put on my birth plan no students, but when you are in full blown labour, the Queen herself could be standing in attendance and you just wouldn't care

My 2nd birth plan was a lot more basic, and was focused more on what I wanted to happen after the birth, skin to skin, breast feeding etc. Her birth was extremely quick and very non-clinical with no intervention at all (or gas and air as there was no time)

To be honest, if you have a quick labour like I did, the midwives will have little or no time to read your birth plan, so make sure your birthing partner has a good idea of what you want. The most important things I felt was letting them know my wishes with regards to pain relief and what I would like to happen after the birth.

Both my daughters births were totally different in almost every aspect except the were both really quick and were vaginal deliveries.

To be honest, until you have experienced labour pain I dont think anyone can rule out drugs. The birth itself is far less painful IMO.

This time around, by birth plan is this:
To have DH with me at all times
If possible to try the birthing pool (am not hopeful)
If avoidable, no epidural
DH to stay with baby in event of a C-section or if baby goes to SCBU/NICU
To have skin to skin, breastfeed at birth
Not to be told the sex, to discover for ourselves
DH to cut the cord if possible
Baby to have Vit-K injection

Best of luck with everything - and I would highly reccomend skin-to-skin contact as soon after birth as possible. Such an amazing feeling holding your newborn child for the very first time

My birth plan was like a novel - complete waste of time that stressed me out (ended up having ecs). Since having dds I have got to know some friends who happen to be midwives - they have all said that if the birth plan is longer than a page they have their money on the mother ending up with a c-setion .

Dogwalker, brilliant stuff. I am just going to copy and paste your birth plan, is exactly what I want, just had not gotten round to writing yet!
Cheers. :)

thanks everyone for this. i had no idea there was so much to think about. the only plan I had was go when I thought it was nearly time (or I need major pain relief).

epidural - my aunt said book one now! but surely you cant feel contractions then?

My first birth went pretty off course (all healthy at the end of it thankfully, but long and unpleasant). My birth plan didn't even make it out of the bag.

This time I'm planning for a home birth (hopefully) and hiring a doula. She's going to know a lot about what I want to take the pressure off me a bit, as obviously will DH. Even if you're not having anyone else, having thought about things with DH will free you up on the day, so he could always have a more detailed plan than the one you give the midwives - e.g. "theonlyhb2 wants me to remind her to eat and drink", that kind of thing.

For the midwives' plan, a midwife said to me that it stands the best chance of being read in full if it's a page or less, has bullet points and headings and avoids things that are routine. So, for example, in the UK you don't need to say that you'd rather avoid a general anaesthetic for a c-section as that's their assumption anyway. She also said stuff like fear of needles was good to know!

You don't necessarily have to take a birth plan with you, but just the act of preparing one, especially if you're a first time mother, gives you the opportunity to think through all the things might happen and make advance decisions about it. Better to have decided in advance about what you would do if X happens or Y is offered than try and work it out whilst screaming in agony!

And I agree if you do bring one in, keep it on one page - just to basically let the midwives know what sort of birth you want otherwise it may not get looked at at all. They can probably pick up enough from just the bare bones to know not to offer Y or to try and avoid X.

One thing to add is a request that if they have to site a drip, for it to be placed far enough up the arm as to be completely clear of the articulation of the wrist. Losing even that little bit of motion is a real bugger.

epidurals - how much you can feel depends on what type of epidural you have, and that (in part) depends on what types of epidural your hospital offers.

I had the approach that I didn't want an epidural but if I was struggling to cope then I'd go for an epi over an opiate. As it turned out I had both DD1 and DD2 with no chemical pain relief (I'm not a masochist, I promise, I just felt I could cope without and I didn't want to have drugs that I didn't need as they all have risks attached). If I have another I wouldn't rule an epidural out - but I do think that if you assume you'll need one it may well become a self fullfilling prophecy.

Plus unless you go private you're extremely unlikely to be able to book one in advance. If you do decide you want one it might be an idea to go in slightly earlier so that there's more time for the anethatist to fit you in - check with your MW how things work at your hospital.

you might think it's frivolous, but 'go home for a sleep' can be an important bit if you want an early discharge.

Tip: put clothes on straight away, rather than jamas, then they get the message that you don't want to hang about

If you want an early discharge, wait till after the birth (just in case things don't go to plan) and then tell them that you'll be leaving by whatever time. You are not a prisoner. They have no legal right to stop you discharging yourself and your baby.

If the paediatrician cannot get to you before the time you wish to leave you can choose to take your newborn to the GP and have the checks done there - they don't have to be done in the hospital. If the paperwork isn't ready - well that's not really your problem, is it?

Mine is usually very simple.

Drugs if needed, especially Epidural
No trainee midwives (bad experiance)
To be informed before they do anything no matter how small
Hubby to cut cord
Vit K injection fine.

It used to include, I would like to go home within 6 hours, but seeing as it hasn't happened in the 5 births so far, and the last one was transverse, and this one is looking that way so far...I ain't bothering anymore lol.

Never had a problem with being able to do that except for the fact either baby needs monitoring, or if I have had a catheter, they always find blood in it (which is stupid cos if you have a tube shoved up one of your internal tubes, its common sense it will scratch) or my bp goes up.
If you make it clear that if all is well you are going home within 6 hours, they usually do all they can to support you assuming all is well :)

thedogwalker My birth plan looked just like yours.

I done the hypnotherapy course and in all seriousness, in various ways it was very helpful. Gave me knowledge and confidence I wouldn't have had as my first was an emerg C section and I really wanted to experience birth. It helped me stay in control so I give hypnotherapy the big thumbs up, but....

it just made me laugh when I seen yours as, as I said it was so similar to mine.

20 mins after being on my hands and knees mooing like a cow, I screamed asked DH to throw the fucking CD turn the CD off as it was doing my head in breaking my concentration! I was so unlike the lovely serene ladies on the hypnotherapy DVD's.

I had a fantastic birth though and I believe if I hadn't been on that course they would have definitely intervened and may not have had my natural birth (waters broke 3 days before, I had group B and Labour just wouldn't start naturally).

Good luck, the techniques will help loads but your birth plan will make you giggle a bit after .

thanks everyone, i never knew there was so much to think about! I read about Vit K injections yesterday, who knew!

OH wants to cut the cord and I know I don't want many people in there if possible and only OH. Normally the idea of mind altering drugs is appealing, but I think I would prefer to try and do without if I can. perhaps they can give me a dose to take at home later

theonlyhb2 Lmao @ the dose to take home

Gas and air is ok.....you feel everything, but it makes you feel high but it doesn't last. One word of warning though, don't let OH sit too close while you are breathing it. Apparantly I was breathing so much of it in and out, my OH was feeling the effects as well I don't like it much, it makes me silly but then I remember what I said afterwards and its never good

theonlyhb2 hope all these helped you to make sense of it all.

Sneakapeak My DS is now 25 weeks old, I had exactly the birth I wanted, no drugs, started off in birthing pool but ended up on all fours. But I had the CD going the whole time, my DH had to keep restarting it. I wasn't as serene as the hypnotherapy ladies either.