Water Births/Birth Plans

[DemiMae]

Hi everyone!

I'm pregnant with my first baby and will be due in May 2023.

I know you may think it's a bit early to be thinking about labour and birth but it's something that's been on my mind and I wanted to get some experiences from other mum's who have been through it before getting to the stage of writing up my birth plan!

If you wanted a water birth, did you manage to get that option when it came to it? If so, how was your experience by doing it that way?

Also, any tips and advice for birth plans as I really don't know what they consist of and I don't have any other friends who are mums/parents 😊

I planned a water birth but ended up being induced and we both needed to be continually monitored so I wasn’t allowed any where near the water. I’m not sure it would’ve helped with my pain anyway as I was asked to empty my bladder and ended up contracting twice whilst sitting the toilet… away from the gas and air. That was the stuff that helped! 😂

I wanted a water birth which is why I bought my own and booked a home birth

I had a water birth with my first and absolutely loved giving birth. I was 21 and loads of people said to me 'you won't get a water birth because you don't understand the pain'...

I read so many books about positive births and stages of labour. I knew exactly what to expect which really helped me.
I got to the hospital at 4cm but didnt get into the pool until I was 7 and began 'transitioning'. It helped so much to hold off because the water was really soothing in that difficult phase.

My advice would be:

• Read loads about birth
• know your rights and advocate for them ( I instantly got told to have pethidine while being examined on labour ward)
• Trust your body and repeat affirmations to get you through
• consider all birthing options and the benefits they have which will keep you positive no matter the outcome.

I'm hoping for a homebirth with my second 🤞

People say don't plan because anything can happen but for me there were things that were really important to me and I wanted to have some birth preferences written down.
My birth preferences covered:

Where I wanted to give birth
Who I wanted there with me
Environment - that I wanted dim lights, pictures from home and to use the birth pool
Pain relief and monitoring
Baby care - vitamin k injection, skin to skin, delayed cord clamping
C-section/assisted delivery - I put this in at the end incase labour ended up with needing extra intervention and what my preferences would be etc

I have birth at a midwife led unit and opted to use the pool. I got my wish, my waters went the day before my due date at 10am, went to the hospital at 11.30am and they confirmed it was my waters and told me to come back 10am the next day if nothing had progressed. My cervix was high and closed at that point. I went back at 3pm as I was having the 3 contractions in 10 mins that they told me to look out for and was 1cm so I went back home. By 7pm my contractions were really intense so I called them, they said it was unlikely I was much further along as it was my first but I could go in to be checked (they told me to take refreshments as they were busy so I would be waiting ages!). The drive there was very intense and when I got there I couldn't sit in the waiting room and was pacing up and down the ward making all sorts of weird noises. Anyway they saw me and took me through straight away, I was 6-7cm and kept in.. they filled the pool up and in I got. I actually didn't birth in there because I wanted to get out but I used it for contractions until I was around 9cm. I was examined at 11pm and I was 9cm dilated and baby was born at 12.29am. I had gas & air as pain relief x

Sorry forgot to add that in my birth preferences the things that were important to me after my baby's birth were skin to skin (if not with me then with my partner), I didn't want her to be taken away from me to be weighed etc until later so she wasn't actually weighed until she was about 3 hours old and I didn't want her to be wiped down I wanted her straight on my chest. I also stipulated I wanted to breastfeed and would need help with this and the midwives were great with this and helped me get baby to latch straight away. Don't be afraid to say what you want/what is important to you - this is YOUR birth and YOUR baby.

YY I think this is really helpful, focusing on things that you can control for the birth plan.

The things that were important to me regardless of the birth were delayed cord clamping, no injections/cuts unless absolutely necessary, skin to skin and for either me or DH to go with baby (rather than staying with me).

Then I had another birth plan with ideas that I wanted DH to remind me of, and plans/preferences for c-section.

If anything was going sideways and seemed like it would end up being traumatic I wanted c-section ASAP rather than continuing with a load of different interventions in pursuit of a vaginal birth. I would also have discussed c-section if I was offered induction. If I was offered interventions like broken water or oxytocin drip with the reason being to speed things up, and there was a good chance that the labour would continue successfully, I would have wanted more pain relief available before they did that - at the very least gas and air, but likely epidural.

In general when anything was requested I wanted to be informed and discuss risks/benefits/can we wait a bit longer (of course assuming it wasn't a life and death urgent emergency, in which case - do what you need to do, although debrief me later please) This served me well when they asked if they could break my waters, I knew I was near the end but also knew that usually tended to dial up the pain, which I was only just coping with, so I said can we keep going a bit longer, or is it urgent now? They said we could wait, so I opted to wait. DS3 was born with meconium in the waters, about two contractions after they broke by themselves, so I feel I was right to wait. There was no problem with him suggesting distress, but I think that if that meconium had come out earlier, it would have caused a panic/intervention spiral, when he was basically ready to come out by himself. (DS2 OTOH was a bit stressed/shocked at birth and I still don't really know about his birth).

I wanted one but I was induced in the end so it wasn’t even mentioned even though the midwife looked at my plan and said oh you want a water birth but then took it no further and I was too exhausted from no sleep to care to ask. Realistically, I don’t think I could go in because I had to be hooked up to monitors for the entire time.

my friend said they wanted one but as soon as they got in they were uncomfy and wanted to get straight back out.

I don’t get to brag about this in real life but both of my births were an absolute dream. I’m so lucky. They were two of the best experiences of my life.

Both were fast - first one 2.5hrs, second 1 hour - and both times I got into the pool at about 9cm. Imo it’s better to hold off getting in as apparently it can slow your contractions. I found the pain relief incredible and also loved that it gave me my own separate enclosed space. I totally went into the zone, didn’t care about DH or the midwives and really felt I did it all by myself. Had gas and air both times from just before I went in the pool and used a tens machine before that.

Also, I was induced with DC1 who was overdue so it is still possible to have one if induced.

@Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow I'm just like you, 2 amazing experiences! And I was induced with my second.

I wanted a water birth and got in the pool at 9cm dilated but it stopped my contractions dead. No-one had warned me this was a possibility and I ended up with an instrumental birth in theatre. I wish someone had told me to keep an eye on my contractions and get out as soon as they started to slow.