Birthplan

[goldenpeach]

Hello, I'm about to prepare a birthplan, any tips? What did you put in yours?

keep it simple

say what you don't want as well as what you do

be prepared for it to be ignored, if things go pear shaped

be realistic and have plans a, b and c ready

i don't think i ever did one ...

I agree. Don't get too hung up on it. I was on a drip as soon as I was admitted, so waterbirth idea went out the window, along wtih others. I think it's a good way of getting you to think about what you'd like in an ideal world, but you have to be prepared for things to be entirely different. I had a really positive birth, mainly because I just went with the flow. The friends of mine who had pretty specific ideas of what they wanted generally tended to be more disappointed. Don't rule anything out.

mine just said:

I don't want any form of pain relief (especially not pethidine), except an epidural, and I will ask for one if I feel I need one

I want my partner to cut the cord

I want my baby to have vit k orally

I did one for 1st baby (the night before I went into labour), ended up with an emergency cs and tossed it in the bin the next morning, untouched. Didn't bother 2nd time round, but gave DP specific instruction, which consisted of him to tell me when I was in transition if panicky - we practised him saying 'I think you are in transition, dear' in the car on the way to hospital, LOL, but in the event, he didn't recognise any of the signs and I ended up with CS again at 10cms dilated and away with the fairies. I wouldn't bother, frankly...better to go with the flow, as I don't think you have any idea what your pain threshold etc is until you reach it!

do one for yourself, write down tips like

-distarction methods for during contractions; counting backwards, breathing, imagining you are surfing a wave or whatever!

-different positions that you have practiced, leaning over a ball, rocking etc

-massage techniques that you have worked out with your birth partner (look some up if you dn't have)

• have things planned for the early stages too which might take a while, such as watching a funny film, making a couple of meals to freeze, writing a letter, doing a puzzle, having a glass of wine and 2 paracetamol! -might all seem mad now but it will make you relaxed and make time fly.

for the midwives, ask them not to offer pain releif if you want to try without, once the offer is there it is hard to say no!
also if you have specific requirements such as; you want to create a dark and quiet environment then put this in your plan as your personal space can quite often be ignored at the time. -perhaps prepare a sign for your door that says 'please enter very quietly' -it is amazing how some midwives/syudents/doctors just barge on in knocking as they walk in!

its not just about the drugs and intervention, because that is all stuff you can't really control on a birth plan, or predict, but I guess you coul think of your birthplan as reminding yourself of all the things you can do to avoid the medical stuff.

i did one the first time- it didnt make it out of the bag.
didnt bother second time.
just make sure your birth buddy knows what you want.

People will scoff and tell you you can't plan your birth (which you can't, obviously), but if you think about what you'd like in an ideal situation and if you need intervention, you can't go far wrong, IMO. My midwives all read mine for both births.

I was keen to keep things as natural as possible, have no drugs, ideally in water (managed with DS1, DS2 too quick!), wanted a natural third stage, to establish bfeeding very quickly, etc - fortunately I did have two very natural deliveries, but I also put stuff in there about how I wanted help to get bfeeding established if I had to have a section, etc.

We also didn't know the gender of either baby, and I really didn't want the "It's a BOY!" cliche announcement by someone I didn't know - I wanted to see for myself.

I think it depends on whether you have any really strong feelings about anything - if you have, then it may be worth writing a birthplan to make sure your wishes are respected as you may not be able to communicate this yourself during labour.

Completely agree with preggers - it's a good idea to state that you don't want to be offered pain relief if you think you'd like to do without as once they suggest it it's hard to say no, especially if you're very tired.

i kept mine simple, and did little paragraphs for each section. I headed each one, things like 'Pain relief', 'Who i want there' (DP, are students ok etc)

Try to make it no more than one side of A4, and i stuck mine in front of my maternity notes so anyone who dealt with me saw it.

Be realistic about it- i put that i only wanted intervention if totally needed, and that DP and i were to be asked at every stage what we wanted. I also said that i became unable to speak for myself, DP was to make decisions for me.

I think it's helpful- of course things may not go to plan, but it's good to make it clear if you are very for / against a certain way of doing things.

best tip is...

it is a WISHLIST not a plan as such.

I don't think I know anyone who had even 50% of their birth 'plan'

Virtually nothing happened from mine - even the vitamin K, which I wanted to be given orally, had to be given by injection!! Couldn't believe it.

I would include:

• Any relevant medical history (I have CFS)
• Who your birth partners are
• What painrelief you would like (or would prefer not to have)
• Birthing position
• How you want to find out sex of baby
• If you would like them to cut cord only when it's stopped beating
• If you would like baby put directly onto you
• Vitamin K orally

i think i had almost everything i wanted, apart from

1. being in the birthing centre instead of at home (because the midwife that came to my house was unpleasant and told me to just go to hospital!

1. i said i wanted to deliver the placenta naturally, but when the time came, the midwife asked if that was what i still wanted, and i couldn't be arsed waiting and had the injection.

other than that, my opinions and needs were respected.

I guess it is dificult because traditionally your 'birth-plan' was something that you did with the midwife that would deliver your baby (most likely) but now the chances of even knowing your midwife that delivers your baby is a long shot!

It is quite practical to put some stuff in writing, simply to save yourself having to repeat the same old same old every time you see a new person (which may be very often if your hospital is anything like mine!).

My midwives read mine (I think), on the other hand it didn't stop them arguing with me about it (I said I wanted a natural third stage and had a 20 minute gasped argument about this while I was at 10cms dilated. I ended up giving in simply to shut the midwife up).

Don't forget that it may be even more important to plan for unexpected eventualities; eg what you want to happen in the event of a c-section.

Thanks for suggestions so far. I see you all agree about vitamin K being given orally to baby, why is it better?

I know that it's not written in stone, but I wrote down a few things before posting, which were:

no episiotomy unless necessary
midwife-led unit and birthing pool if possible (gas and air as painkiller)
I can't swallow big pills/tablets
No lying on my back to give birth, mobile
My partner as birth partner (I don't think I can keep him out, he is very keen, lol)

I'm still wondering if I should have placenta naturally or have injection or what other pain relief I want in case I start screaming "Give me Drugs". If everything is ok, I can give birth in midwife unit (nicer place than labour ward) but you have to opt for gas and air. I am considering pethidine if I cannot bear the pain. What's wrong with it? some of you don't like it. Not keen on epidural and I hope I don't get emergency C, not keen on operations.

Thanks for your input.

HAH! Everyone will hate mine then.

I want:

A water birth.
No episiotomy
NO induction
No intervention of any kind
No pethedine
yes to gas and air

If water birth is impossible then I want a mobile epidural, only enough to dull pain, must be able to feel the need to push.
Yes to mobility
Quiet and dark in labor room.

Immediate skin to skin contact, help breast feeding altho I do not want anyone to grab my breast or nipple.

Under no circumstance is ANYTHING to be done without asking me and explaining why.

Rigid enough? LOL

I think I'll have to hire someone to advocate for me. Would that be a doula or an independent midwife?

I wonder how much I'll be laughing about having written this once I've actually given birth...

I didnt make one and Im not going to this time either

Hi Diva and goldenpeach

Great to have the ideas as you may be able to have some/ all of them, but best thing (esp when in lots of pain) is to go with the flow. Would recommend a doula as I had my Mum AND husband, but both didn't know a lot and the midwife was rubbish. Someone who knew would have helped.

Word of warning: I wrote mobile epidural and they didn't know what it was! I probably wouldn't have epidural again, thought it would be better than pethidine but with hindsight perhaps not. Next time if I can't handle pain, I would have pethidine EARLY ON! And then try and get through the last bit with only gas and air - though tbh it did nothing for me.

But yes, GO WITH THE FLOW. You may end up being induced or having emergency c (not to be too negative!) but it happens a lot and it is not the end of the world if you have a healthy little baby at the end of it all.

I knew somebody that hired a tens machine and didnt know what it was for

As others have said keep it simple
Tell your birthing partner that you reserve the right to deviate from the plan and that them reminding you about it when you need more pain relief will cause you to shout at them!

Divaskychick,

your plan sounds fab, jsut make sure your informed enough to get everything you want!

(you would want a doula if you are wanting an advocate if you dont want nhs, then an IM is good as she will do all your chks b4 and after birth and support you)

Cx

I would say be prepared for everything to change. If you go in absolutely determined to have no pain relief, for example, you'll feel as though you've failed in some way if you then have pethidine, or an epidural, when actually, the only thing that matters is that you and your beautiful new baby are ok. I always felt that I didn't want an epidural but when I decided that I'd really had enough of the pain and asked for one, I couldn't believe I hadn't had one hours earlier. It was magical, as though someone just turned down the Pain button from 11 to 0, but I could still feel each contraction. So all I'm saying is of course you'll think about each option beforehand but be prepared to see how things go. It's an absolutely amazing experience!