38 weeks + 5 - no birthing plan

[yhk]

Hi everyone.

My wife is 38+5 with our first.

At her last scan last Friday (she's been having them bi-weekly owing to her bump measuring as too small, but every ultrasound has been OK) the sonographer noticed that the amniotic fluid level was low, and she was asked to see a doctor that same day.

The doctor said although the fluid level is lower than normal, he advised her to come back a week later for another scan to check the fluid. From what the doctor said last week, it sounds like they may ask to induce her later today if there is no improvement.

Two days ago, we went to the hospital for an appointment booked to discuss her birthing plan with a doctor (not a midwife, owing to these measurement inconsistencies between the bump size and scan measurements). This was arranged a few weeks ago (the delay I'm told was because of industrial action). When we attended, the doctor focused solely on the scans that showed the low fluid level measurements. To be honest, my wife and I completely forgot to ask about the birthing plan as all we could think about was the fluid level.

When we go to her scan later today, I'll pop in to see the midwife and ask about her birthing plan. Is having a birthing plan at this late stage normal?

Baby is confirmed as being engaged and my wife has been told that the baby is full-term. She is incredibly anxious that she could very well go into natural labour before a birthing plan is in place. I found a birthing plan template (method of delivery, pain relief, etc) on the NHS website and we've filled it out.

I just hope the midwife can help us out!

I didn't have a formal birth plan with either of mine. From my experience as long as you know what you want on the day and you are able to communicate and advocate for your wife if she isn't able to, that's all you need. As soon as you arrive at hospital in labour (or have been induced) you'll be asked things as you go along, e.g. do you want the birth pool, do you want any pain relief, am I OK to examine you, do you want the injection to birth the placenta etc. If you have any specific requests it's your job to communicate those to the midwife on the day.

It's you that needs the birth plan agreed between the two of you , the midwives don't need it until there and then and it can just be communicated in the form of answering questions or asking for something specific. That's my experience anyway.

As a side note, don't get too hung up on the plan, it might not actually go to plan. And you just don't know how you'll feel on the day! With my first I wanted a water birth and no pain relief. I ended up with a back to back labour and was begging for pain relief after 50 hours of an intense latent labour, and didn't give a toss about getting in the pool when the time came.

P.s. good luck!

The fact you've found a form and filled it out means you've done it yourself anyway😊. I don't remember having one with my son (who broke my waters at 37+5) but I knew roughly what I wanted. My birth plan would have been thrown out the window anyway as the only thing I stuck to was no pain relief, the rest was decided for me due to major complications! This time my midwife has written a very brief birth plan at my 34 week appointment, nothing crazy or what I couldn't say myself on the day or labour anyway. Main thing is that you as her partner know her wishes, so you can advocate for her as and when she may not be able to advocate for herself

I had no birthing plan with either of mine and didn’t fill it in. My plan was ‘do what’s best in the circumstances at the time’.

This post reminds me that I don’t have a birth plan at 37 weeks! I didn’t with my first but what I do find important is having your hospital bag ready to go and making sure that you have the numbers of everyone you need to call when labour starts (midwife incase they are on call or not on duty; if you have another birth partner like parent etc).

Have a list of stuff your wife wants and an ideal scenario (such as pain relief, aerobic ball, pool access etc). It only needs to be a conversation and communicated on the day as like most have said everything goes out of the window - unless it’s a longer labour.

Also plan for the “at home part” so making sure you have cushions, blankets, know the position she will be in whilst waiting to dilate or for contractions to become regular.

Good luck with it all!

I really wouldn't worry, I'm not doing a plan. Pointless, you have no idea what'll happen, and it'll only lead to disappointed if you have some magical idea.

You don't need a plan. I was never asked! But I knew what I (ideally) wanted and made sure my husband knew in case he needed to advocate for me.

In any case, your baby will certainly NOT have read any plan.... so you do need to be open for anything to happen. A good lesson for parenting actually - you can have all the plans in the world, but you have to deal with the hand of cards you are dealt!

My plan was "have a baby as safely as possible"
Never filled in a form and tbh if I had made a specific plan it probably would have gone out the window.
If we have another I'd just plan for someone to look after DC1 :)