birth plan or where I am to give birth

[K8eee]

I'm just over 37 weeks and my mw hasn't mentioned to me anything about where I am to give birth (mlu or labour ward) luckily (this is one good thing that came of it) my trip to the hospital last weekend with abdominal pain meant the mw on the labour ward managed to tell me which was a bit of a relief. I haven't been told to write a birth plan, nor my mw has sat with me to write on. should I be concerned...? and is it worth my while writing my own birth plan to take to the hospital?

I gave birth at the same place I had my scans, and just assumed everyone did unless they requested otherwise.

Theres a page at the back of your book for a birth plan but again, I didnt speak to my MW much about it other than ask if the hospital had a birthing pool. I wrote my own and it qas used during my labour.

There is a checklist at the back of my notes to fill in - like a pro-forma? Have a look there maybe?

Are you doing antenatal classes (NHS ones) of any sort? That's where birth plans/preferences got discussed with me first time round.

Yes, I would say it is worth writing one, as long as it is flexible and realistic. For example, first time round I think I had things like "I do not want Keillands/high forceps, so please talk to me about a section early enough for this to be an alternative option if possible" and "I do not want to have pethidine, but open to all other forms of pain relief if and when I need them."

Yes, deffo write your own birth plan if you want one.

You might have a space for it in the back of your notes?

nope no space in my notes. may see if I can find a template online ant guidance would be useful too! what should and shouldn't I include?

Finally did mine last night (at 39+4...) and found some guidance and a couple of sample plans at Babycentre (just did a search on there for "birth plan".

The checklist at the back of my notes asked about who I'd like at the birth, intended forms of pain relief, monitoring, preferences for immediately after the birth (skin-to-skin, third stage), how I intend to feed and vitamin K.

Hoping for a home birth so I also had a look at homebirth.org.uk and there was lots more home birth-specific detail there.

Depends what you feel strongly about. I've never done one, and both of my previous births were so quick that there wasn't really anything to plan/choose anyway.

TBH, I'd err on the side of medical choices tho if I were you. Stuff like "I'd like my DH to massage me with lavender oil" really isn't of that desperate an interest to the MW.

Yes, I'd agree, mostly the medical stuff.

A lot depends on what sort of birth you are planning/hoping for. A planned section will look very different to if your ideal is a waterbirth.

Mine for DC3 has a number of sections:

-Previous births (there is some factual stuff I'd really like them to know about what happened in the previous ones as it does affect this time)
-General atmosphere and communication (e.g. due to my history, I get very freaked out if people don't explain medical terminology or what is happening. This section might not be that relevant to most people)

• Plans for at home (e.g please actively offer me gas and air)
• Preferences if in hospital (monitoring, forceps, don't offer me pethidine etc)
• Management of the third stage - placenta, vitamin K, etc
• How I feel about students

lovely! shall see what I can throw together but will try and stick to mostly medical things (or things that'll at least possibly help!)