Do you not make a birth plan when you are pregnant with your second?

[Maydream]

Currently 31 weeks pregnant with my second baby and nobody has mentioned anything about a birth plan. Last time around, I was 27/28 weeks when I filled the forms in.

Obviously, I know that things don't always go the way you want them to, and I didn't go into too much detail last time (mainly just put see at the time for most things) around as I'm aware that there are a lot of things that can change.

However, last time I ended up having a water birth. This was purely coincidental, as the pool room was the only room available at the time. I was sceptical at first, but I loved the experience and it definitely helped with the pain.

Ideally, I would like to specify that I would like a water birth this time around if it is possible to do so. How would I go about this if it turns out that I don't end up making a birth plan?


Thanks

[Notso]

I didn't have one for any of my 4. I did brief DH just in case I couldn't speak for myself but that was it really.

[FretYeNot]

I wrote: give me a bed, a midwife and a constant supply of gas & air, I plan to give birth. I figured pretty much everything else would be decided by circumstances in the delivery suite. (And I hoped to make the midwife smile at least,)

[fluffypenguinbelly]

I just wrote my own on A4 paper. About 8 one sentence bullet points. My midwife didn't mention it.

One of my points said don't touch me (but more politely!) and after the midwife said she was really glad I wrote that as she is normally very strokey and patty! I basically didn't see her until the last 20 minutes. She walked in the room and read my birth plan immediately.

I am planning on using the same one for this pregnancy.

[PennyHasNoSurname]

I did them with both of mine, but it was just a page at the back of the book that was blanked lined ready for it.

Dc1 - ill use pain relief as and if needed, vit k yes, students yes, injection for placenta, dh to tell me the sex and explain EVERYTHING to both me and my husband.

Dc2 - no syntocin, do not ask me to lie down on the bed apart from examinations which should be minimal, waterbirth if avail, injection for placenta, vit k yes, students yes (she was worth her weight in gold!!!)

[INeedACheeseSlicer]

I didn't do one either time, not anything written down anyway.

I just told them when I arrived that I didn't want an epidural, or pethidine or anything like that.

I think with the pool, you can just ask if the pool is available when you arrive, and if it is, great, and if it isn't that's a shame. Surely it is a case of first come first served with things like that, given that they don't know precisely when you are actually going to turn up in labour? I doubt they leave the pool empty on the offchance that someone who has written it on their birthplan (a) goes into labour that day and (b) still wants and is able to use the pool when they come in.

[Maydream]

Thanks all! I do have a few other preferences with regards to Vitamin K, delayed cord claiming etc.

I'll just note them down and keep them with my pregnancy notes. At least they're there for the midwife to look at if all goes well.

With my first, I didn't specify much on the birth plan at all (just thought I'd wing it). It a bit of a nightmare listening to and answering all of the questions the midwife was asking me whilst I was l trying to breathe through contractions. If I have a few preferences written down this time around, I thought it would make things a little easier.

My DS's delivery didn't quite go to plan anyway. I ended up having to get out of the pool to be catheterised, then there was a mad rush to get back in the pool as DS was on his way, and as soon as I got back into the pool my waters broke and there was a significant amount of meconium. So I ended up being rushed out of the pool again and giving birth on the bed... It was all going smoothly until the last 5 minutes! Haha

[alltouchedout]

I did. It said:
No AROM
No episiotomy
Do not offer me pain relief
I will birth a breech baby vaginally
(NB I know that in an emergency all bets are off)

[Chattymummyhere]

I don't bother with them after my first.

However if you want to do one just little bullet points of things.

• delayed cord clamping
• yes/no to vit K for baby
Etc

[goodnightdarthvader1]

Joskar said it really well.

[Joskar]

I didn't have one for my first because I (stupidly) trusted the mws and everyone said "Hahahahahaha! Not worth the paper they're written on! Midwives and doctors don't look at them." And other dismissive comments. As it turned out my first birth experience was rubbish. I had to make lots of complicated decisions in the throes of labour, Dh was scared, I hadn't thought about things at all.

For my second I realised that a birth plan is not supposed to be a shopping list of the perfect birth and good midwives aren't laughing at you for writing one. It's a chance for you to think about all the things that might happen and think about how you might deal with the eventualities. Obviously things change and there are things out with your control but that doesn't mean it's stupid to think about the birth. Good midwives realise that feeling as though you have a say in the most important thing you'll ever do is probably a good idea. Confidence in yourself and your partner is really important. The conversations I had with Dh when writing it meant I knew he was my advocate and he knew what I'd want. The piece of paper itself isn't important but the thought process is imo.

Good luck! I hope it all goes well.

[whatsoever]

I'm 40 weeks with Dc2 now. I brought it up with my MW (well the random one I happened to get that day, there is no 'my' MW) at 30 weeks & she said write it & discuss it at the next one, which we did so it's a handwritten scrall on the back of my iron blood test results in my notes folder!

Says what conditions I have that might make labour tricky eg SPD; things that didn't go great last time & things I'd prefer to do differently this time. Just a few bullets so they know why I saying them eg diamorphine made me feel so sick I stopped eating & drinking last time; ended up severely dehydrated etc etc so I'd rather avoid it; pool didn't help so I won't bother this time; if I can't weight bear on my legs, I'd like an epidural as I'll be lying down anyway.

I could probably rattle it off in a minute when I get there but I might not be in a fit state & it clarified my thinking to write it down more than anything.

[NickyEds]

I wrote a lengthy one for ds (my first)and none for dd. I did however write "I refuse an induction drip without an epidural" on my notes and dp was well versed in that sentence! Dd was a nice quick birth but I would have like to have a water birth- I ended up having her on a trolley in a closed induction suite as they wouldn't admit me as I "wasn't in labour"- a birth plan would have made no difference.

[stargirl1701]

I wrote a plan both times. It was followed by the midwives both times. I found it useful.

[Tfoot75]

I did one at 36 weeks using nhs template, not much you can dictate ahead by way of pain relief, true, but I still had my preferences on vit k, delayed cord clamping and managed 3rd stage on mine which were followed to the letter without me needing to be questioned at a time when I had more important things on my mind. So I'm definitely an advocate!

Wrote it for 36 week appointment, if you go into labour preterm then choices on the above go out the window really for the welfare of the baby (and you obviously wouldn't be having a water birth).

[ICJump]

I did. Mine was much more detailed second time round but less went to the midwife. So my "support team" new what I wanted in everything from a standard birth to a ga c section followed by maternal coma.
It was good I did that as at 42 weeks I had an induction and it meant we'd talked through all that.

I had an amazing joyous empowering induction and a lot of that was down to my confidence in myself and my family.

[Lj8893]

Generally a birth plan would be discussed at the 36 week appointment but it really depends on the midwife, some may not mention it at all. Unless prompted.

I think they are a brilliant tool for things that may be "not the norm" or explicit things like the use of forceps like a pp said.
They are also good for your midwife to refer to if you are swept away concentrating on your labour, so they don't have to disturb you.

But it's probably better to mention things like using the pool rather than relying on the midwife reading it in your birth plan when you get on the unit. By the time she's read it, it may be too late to get you there or it may be in use.

[JassyRadlett]

There was space in my notes for mine - the main bit for me was writing 'I do not consent to the use of forceps without the written consent of me or my husband at the time, and under no circumstances do I consent to the use of Kiellands forceps'. In really big writing.

Think we discussed it at the 32 week appointment. After not feeling listened to at all with DS1, I was more forthright with DS2's.

[Lj8893]

How bizarre.

A midwife wouldn't look at your birth plan (and therefore take note of your pool preference) till you arrived on the unit anyway so that doesn't make sense.

Maybe when you phone the unit and they say to come in you could tell them then. I'm assuming they need to know so they can fill the pool.

[Missingcaffeine]

If you want to use the pool, I'd recommend calling your proposed place of birth when labour starts to let them know you'd really like a water birth - especially if there is a shortage of pools, as if they're not too busy they can try to keep a room with a pool available for you. Then call again when you're on your way in to let them know the same. I wrote a birth plan with my first (did it independently as my pre-natal midwife wasn't interested) and I'm glad I did it. I was so focused on the contractions when I arrived, I was struggling to chat about things and it was nice knowing my midwife knew what I wanted. I clipped it to the front of my notes so it was the first thing she saw. She started running the pool the moment I arrived etc. I will be doing the same again this time.

[Maydream]

Lj- this would be the logical thing to do, but last time around, I was told you had to specify beforehand if you'd like a waterbirth and let the unit know beforehand. The only reason I was in the room last time was because they were full and it was the last room available.

That being said, things might have changed. I'll mention it to the midwife at my next appointment and see whether she could mention it in my notes

[BananaPie]

I didn't do one for either of mine. The midwife just said to ask for the pool on arrival if i wanted it - it's pretty much first come first served I think.

[drasticfantastic]

My notes have a blank page designated for writing down birth preferences. I put a few things down v recently (37 wks) eg no pethidine, I plan to breastfeed, I want skin to skin immediately after birth. If you have the same in yours if write down that you'd ideally like to use the pool if poss.

That said, with my first I didn't get round to writing anything and all went fine.

[LittleGreyCatwithapinkcollar]

Mine was 4 bullet points on a post it I stuck on my notes. My midwife never mentioned it though, so don't know if/when it was 'meant' to be done!

[Lj8893]

You could just say you would like to use the pool when you get onto the unit?

[goodnightdarthvader1]

If you call it Birth Preferences, there's no harm whatsoever in outlining the type of birth you'd like to have.