Birthing Plans

[Jessiejuju]

Hi guys so im currently 5 weeks and i know its early but starting to think about birthing plans. Wondering if anyone could share there ideas as right now have no idea what I want.

Hi. I'm 29 weeks and my consultant won't still allow me to decide... I think it depends a lot on how things develop, position on baby in the last few weeks, if you have any preexistent condition, age, and so on! Also how you feel about delivery: for you, is it a medical or a natural situation? X

What saratustra said is right, you could have an ideal in mind but by the time you get to 35 weeks you could have pressing medical reasons to think again, so try not to get too wedded to a certain way of doing things at this point.

Not everyone rates the antenatal classes offered by the nhs but I found them useful in helping me work up a birth plan, and so I would say it's worth waiting until you go to those before you make any major decisions. My plan isn't so much a 'my birth should go like this and not deviate' kind of document. It's more a list of what is and isn't a priority for me. So for me major priorities include, having my DP as birth partner, skin to skin contact straight away, water birth/active birth if possible. Not so important, I don't have a strong feeling on pain relief, I'll take it if I need it, I'm not planning to be a martyr and I'm not ruling anything out. And my plan makes it very clear that if medical advice goes against what's in the plan I'll discuss with the doctor/midwife and consider all options, again not ruling most things out (except forceps, they give me the absolute horrors).

The antenatal classes going over the various interventions and how they all worked were really useful in helping me think about how I felt about what could happen if things go wrong, and where my priorities would lie. I also talked it through with my DP, did he feel comfortable cutting the cord, doing skin to skin with him too, what would happen if for some reason I had to have a c section under general anasthetic, etc, so that his thoughts were included too.

The NHS has a handy dandy page which walks you through the kinds of things you might want to think about as well:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/birth-plan.aspx

It's early days for you so you have plenty of time to research, and ask your midwife loads of questions. I would also recommend taking a tour of the places you're thinking of giving birth too, as that may influence your birth plan. Hypnobirthing comes with a lot of recommendations as does mindfulness, they're quite similar thinking really, so you might want to look into those before you decide as well.

I know that things may change, just as i may change my mind however i would like to start thinking about things because i am the kind of person who changes their mind over and over again. I think i would like a natural birth or maybe a water birth but not sure yet.

@Jessiejuju

I will try without epidural but if I'm in agony I will take it and that's all I know of my birth plan so far. I'm currently 28 weeks.
Still can't really plan anything though as anything can happen and may end up needing a c section

The people who do then Idiots Guide books do a Dads Guide to Pregnancy book. I really liked their section on birth plans and how it's about preferences not orders, being polite etc

OH hasn't got that far into it yet tho 🙄

I'm waiting to see my obstetrician before making too many decisions as it's a twin birth and I think a lot will be decided for me.

However so far, I think I would like to specify

• OH is my birth partner
• mum to support if OH goes home for a break/is off with one of the twins in neonatal
• skin to skin asap with me and OH
• I'd like the option of using pool for pain relief but not a water birth
• I'd prefer gas but will take an epidural if advised eg one baby is breech to avoid giving birth to one and then c section for the other

Of course they may end up recommending a c section anyway and then it all goes out the window.

I think the best thing to do is go in with an open mind as it's usually the baby who decides on the birth plan. That said, you can research the different pain relievers and let your birth partner know if there's anything you'd really rather avoid.

Take a tour of your local birth centre and hospital delivery room, not only to help you decide but to put your mind at rest should you not be able to have your ideal birth.

NCT and other antenatal classes will include all your different options as well as the pros and cons so you can make an informed decision.

I’m having an ELCS this time (after an EMCS with DS1) - I have no plans to write a birth plan this time round, I just want baby to arrive safely!

It's probably different for each trust but where I am we have a specific appointment to make a birth plan with the midwife. However, I was whisked off to hospital during that appointment so I never made one and looking back it made no difference, you just have to go with the flow but I did have a few important things I knew I wanted to happen:

• To be up and mobile (I was until 10cm but had to be strapped to a monitor at that point)
• skin to skin straight away
• Gas and air only - personal preference & had no choice in the end anyway as too late for epidural!
• My OH as my only birthing partner
• To leave hospital ASAP (that completely went to shit but staying in wasn't as bad as I'd imagined)

I think a water birth would be lovely & would like one for next time but wasn't allowed this time unfortunately.

I think the most important is to have your preferences prepared not a plan as anything could happen.

Eg. Do you want to be offered pain relief or prefer to ask for it?
Do you want to be lying down on your back or prefer more natural, upright positions (if possible)?
Do you consent to baby being given the vitamin K injection?

And so on...

I really wouldn't worry at 34 weeks my midwife said I need to start thinking about it I was stressing cos I didn't really know where is start but then at my 36 week appointment she talked it threw with me and I did know what I wanted to put on it but I have heard that mostly people don't stick to their birthing plans. I would mostly just think about what pain relief u want and how u want to give birth eg standing up, lying down, birthing pool

My birth plan for my daughter was this - assume position and listen to consultant and midwife.

This time round it's pretty much same.

I do advise going to ALL the ante natal classes that are offered on birth as information is power and knowing why things are done (such as wire attached to baby head to monitor) and what can go wrong etc is power to you.

As for birth plan - it's a guide not a contract so if something happens expect a clear room and the plan to get shredded (in extreme cases)

Apart from that, enjoy the planning and be flexible.

U can change ur mind on the day anyways and the midwife and docs will do what best for baby and u anyways even if not on ur birthing plan

Honestly I don't see the point in them. It's worth knowing the facilities available to you like pools etc but other than that your body and baby will make the plan for you!

I gave birth at 34 weeks last time so never got round to making a plan and it didn't really make a difference - they asked about partner cutting cord etc as they went along. I'm not making a plan this time around either.

I'm pregnant with my first, so I haven't tried out a birth plan or even written one yet but I recently read 'The Positive Birth Book' by Milli Hill and found it really helpful for setting out all of the options, and what to do if things don't go to plan. I'll be using it to write a birth plan when I'm a bit further along.