Birth Plans. Did you write your own and what did you put?

[YellowFeathers]

Because I'm 29 weeks and haven't a clue where I will be giving birth, I'm going to write my birth plan so its there and ready when ever and where ever I need it!

When I had dd, my MW came out to the house and went through it with me and wrote it.I know what I want but how do I put it onto paper?

Do I keep it short, sweet and to the point or just put it in to bullet points?
How do you start it off?

I wrote

"have a baby"

Which was lucky as the whole thing was a nightmare and I would have been sorely disappointed if I had put anything about it being nice...

lol

I don't want anything fussy but at the same time I have certain things which I need to make sure come across plain, simple and clear to the MW's.

am watching this one, Yellow, as i am clueless!!

I'm sure your MW will help you Olivo.
They're not giving me appts anymore because of us moving so I just have to make them at the right times. I've been told to go for a check up at 32 weeks if we are still here or obviously if I need them.
Don't want to have to make an appt for a birth plan!

I didn't bother
How can you plan something you aint never done before??

I ended up putting mine in bullet points as I wanted to make sure everything was clear. I just started 'I would like...' and kept it fairly brief.

mine just says "no pethidine" and "father would like to cut the cord if possible"

MWs never read 'em anyway.
They just snort,think 'Oh God,not another self indulgent loon who seems to think she is the only one who has ever given birth'then throw it to one side,all the time nodding and smiling as you explain how you want the CD paused at the right moment so that as neonate emerges,it is to the dulcet tones of Robbie yodelling

'And throught it ALL>>>>>'

PMSL!

Believe me it doesn't involve music or anything like that.

I take it from these responses I should just keep it short and simple.

Maybe

Just get it out as quickly and painlessly as poss??

However,one would assume that this is the whole point of having MWs in attendence,thus rendering plan redundant.

Well you would think!

I used the following headings and put a copy in my notes. Everyone read it (in fact, I was more of the "oh, don't bother with that" frame of mind than the midwives), they all paid attention to it and although I know no birth goes 100% to plan, it was important to me that some things were seen by those caring for me. It was as much to give my birth partners the ability to say "er, actually, she's not going to be very happy about that" if I was in no fit state to comment!

Moondog, I know we disagree about this, but the formula thing was v important to me

Labour
Don't want pethidine, would like pool if available.

Delivery
Bit about tearing v episiotomy, Vitamin K and cord cutting (DH squeamish so I did it second time round - my mum did it with DS1).

Delivery of the placenta
Wanted it to be natural, not with jab.

Breastfeeding
This obv v important to me, so made it clear no formula (had blood sugar issues having had diabetes in pg), wanted to bfeed asap, etc, etc.

Caesarean if needed
Epidural rather than GA if time, us to see gender of baby rather than have it announced, help given with positioning for bfeeding afterwards. If GA, then DH to hold baby and bfeeding established in recovery if possible.

I used lots of "I would like" and "if possible" but in a tone that suggested "this had better occur, OK?"

Yellow.. I had a birth plan with dd but everything went pear shaped and didn't follow it.

Have to admit am not really going to bother with a formal one this time as I am going in for a c-section but DH will know my wishes regarding breastfeeding and presenting baby to me etc because there's a good chance I'll be out of it.

watching this with interest Feathers as i regretted not having one last time as things were so hectic and confused a couple of things happened before i could disagree that i wasn't happy with.... was given the jab to deliver placenta for example and hadn't wanted it. was stitched when it wasn't needed.

desperately want it all written down and discussed in advance this time.

planning on typing out a sheet of bullet points, as few as possible so they're more likely to be taken in by the mw than if you have a whole booklet written out!

Thanks everyone.

I'll sit down tomorrow and write something out then at least if worst came to the worst and I went in to labour the day we move, I will have something with me.

I wasn't very "with it" when labouring with dd so I need for the MW's to be able to know what I want i.e. no pethidine

glad you asked this yellow im stuck where to even start

I did sort of bullet points based on the birth plan thing in my maternity notes.
e.g. where the birth was going to be, what pain relief I wanted (or didnt want), who would cut the cord, whether I was having vitamin K given orally/IM, method of feeding, delivery straight on to me, skin-to-skin contact, etc, etc.

I dont know whether they read it or not but thankfully the birth was pretty straightforward anyway.

Good question Yellow. I have seen a few 'example' birth plans on line, and there are guidance notes to making one in What to Expect When You're Expecting but they all seem so long I doubt if it will all be read. There are a few things that are very important to me though so I will be writing one as well.

I wrote my birth plan much like Hunkers, then I got my DH to memorise the most important bits, good job too as he had to restrain the MW who came at me the the jab for the placenta! You might not be able to clerly explain what you want, so it' an idea to let yur birth partner know what's most important.

lol Hunker
Fair enough

Only thing I regret (a teeny bit) is not cutting the cord,second time around.Too freaked by whole thing to even entertain notion the first time)
Dh wasn't there,but i would really have liked to.
Ah well,he's here and safe.

I think writing a birth plan is a good idea in that it makes you think about what the possibilites/options are. However once it is written you might as well throw it away.

It is good to be aware of what you would like but at the same time you have to accept that birth is unplannable and anything can happen.

You can find examples on the web for the format
\link{http://birthplan.com/example.php\ like this one}

I however found the structure of a birthplan plan most useful as a way of sounding out what I wanted or expected from the birth and as a way of exploring my feelings about it. Once I had done this, I somehow was able to let go and accept that even if the birth didn't go to plan things would be fine.