MN Bumpfest: Share your thoughts and experiences on birth plans – £50 voucher prize draw NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

In the run up to BumpFest (which we're VERY excited about - get your ticket now! ) we’re looking to get a better understanding of the experiences Mumsnetters have had around different issues surrounding childbirth - in particular, the infamous birth plan.

On a previous thread on Mumsnet it seemed as if many of you found that writing a birth plan was not as useful as you were led to believe for your first birth. What were your experiences with using your birth plan during labour? Did you follow it and find that everything went like clockwork, or did things end up more, er, ad-libbed, shall we say

Was your plan consulted by health care professionals during labour, or not? If not, was this due to the birth plan quickly becoming redundant, or did you feel that health care professionals simply ignored your birth plan? Did you feel that your needs and wishes were listened to during the birthing process? Did you find writing a birth plan a useful exercise in retrospect?

We know that every birth is unique, with or without a birth plan. We'd love to hear your experiences and thoughts, and if you have any birth plan wisdom to pass on (even if it's "chuck it out the window and get stuck into the drugs"), please do share.

Everyone who adds their thoughts to this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks

MNHQ"

[trice]

My midwives were very keen to read my birthplan and tried to stick to it where possible. I think they are a good way to communicate what sort of birth you are hoping for.

[twinklenic]

After my first child and everything going wrong i decided for my other two children not to write a birth plan and i felt much better than i did with my first where nothing went to plan

[kkmuk06]

i didnt find out i was pregnant until i was 21weeks (months of dr appointments and negative results) so i didnt have much time to plan my birth and so i decided to just go with the flow! and my birth was amazing! considering she was back to back i still refused medication and everything just happened in its own natural time and way

[xxxxclarexxxx]

i think its nice to have an idea but nothing ever goes exactly to plan when having a baby so maybe be a bit adaptable :) x

[Thurlow]

As someone said near the start of the thread, I didn't want to write a birth plan because what on earth did I, the non-medical professional first time mum know about labour?

I wrote a vague one, because I thought I ought to, but no one paid any attention to it.

It is a good idea to go through the different possibilities for birth and labour and make sure women are educated on what might happen. A birth plan that was actually directed by medical professionals might be of more use, one that asks express questions about specific situations. What would you prefer us to do if X happens? What about if we need to do Y?

But a blank sheet of paper and the instruction to write your birth plan suggests that you have more control over the situation than many women do. Also it sets up an "idealised experience" which can ultimate "fail".

I do get why medical professionals are asking women their opinion pre-birth and the idea behind it all is good - but I really don't think a blank birth plan is the right way to go about it.

[goose1964]

I wouldn't bother with one - nature takes it's own course & if you have plan you may feel you've failed if you don't stick with it

[Flickabella]

I think the idea in principle is fine to explore the different options and to make informed choices. You also have to be prepared to be flexible and not get your heart set on something as it leads to disappointment. With my first child I wanted a water birth but someone was already in the pool! With the second I wanted a home bothy but we were moving 2 days before I was due so this wasn't an option. I ended up having a retained placenta anyway so would have had to go to hospital after all!

[strawberrisc]

Be prepared to have to change them! My birth plan stated I wanted certain music playing, I wanted to use my TENS machine, I wanted an epidural, I wanted my partner to cut the cord, I wanted as few people in the room as possible etc. My daughter was born so quickly that music and TENS weren't an option, an epidural was out of the question, I gave birth in a room that my partner and mother were not allowed in surrounded by a complete audience! It's fine to have a birth plan but in the end, it really doesn't matter. What matters is getting baby born safely

[JWalker23]

Always good to have a plan, just to let everyone know your wishes etc and on same page

[TiggersAngel7774]

nice to have written down what you want, but my midwife neither asked or looked at mine

[cluckyhen]

I think they are a good idea but I also think they can set you up to feel worse if you can't follow it.

I had one but didn't use it and it didn't bother me, whereas a close friend had hers down to the second of exactly how she wanted it and due to complications none of that happened - she was so disappointed and down she was diagnosed with Birth Trauma afterwards

[funkyfreks]

No birth plan required, I can honestly say no 2 births are the same and even if you put a plan in place your not necessarily going to stick to it.
Ladies we know the drill, we know where our babies coming from, Just wait until you know it's time and let your body make it's own birth plan.

[helcrai]

Didn't even know you could have one other than choosing which hospital to go to! Was never mentioned as an option in our ante natal classes so I never made one. Good job really as I ended up with emergency c- section first time round following horrendous induction.

[kimnews]

I never had a birth plan as my baby was breech and so we had an elective csection. I certainly feel I dodged a bullet!

[Pointlessfan]

I didn't write one - just as well as I ended up having an emergency section!
I did write down a few practicalities e.g. dietary requirements, allergies which was helpful as I was quite drugged and DH was exhausted and emotional so we might have forgotten these otherwise.

[Lent1l]

I kept my birth plan from my first pregnancy and just tweaked it for my second. During my first I'm not sure how relevant it was or how much it was considered by the midwife as I had a very long labour and ended up with a forceps delivery. However, it did help my partner and I to focus before we went in.

Second time around my labour was less than two hours, we barely made it to the hospital on time so there was certainly no chance to consult my notes let alone my birth plan before DD2 made an appearance.

I think the best thing we did both times was to know and accept that circumstances change and you can't plan for everything. Have an idea of what you'd like and be prepared to change plans several times along the way.

[zipzap]

I think that the term Birth Plan should be replaced with something like Birth Preferences because calling it a plan makes it sound like you can decide what you want to happen and create a false sense of security.

It would be better to have a standard document with all the different options nicely laid out so you work your way through it and decide what you would like to happen in different scenarios but you realise that it's not actually a definite plan for what's going to happen. So for example there would be a pain relief section, you could tick that you want to use TENS as a first choice, gas and air as a second then if necessary you want pethidine or an epidural or whatever it is you decide. You could also mark that you are allergic to xxx so that is not to be used under any circumstances. And whilst it is easy to 'plan' for an ideal birth (quick and painless!) if there was a better preferences document, then you could think about what might happen if things don't go to plan, if you do need more pain killers or if things take longer than expected or if the baby is suddenly breech or back to back and so on.

If it was a standard document it would be easy for any midwife or HCP present to pick it up and see what they needed at a glance. And talking it through with a midwife in advance would help the mum to be to understand the different options, when they might be useful or relevant and when they might need to go down a completely different track.

[BlackeyedSusan]

birth plan. get to hospital early enough to have antibiotics for strep b
ask for painkillers when need it.
please save the placenta... one of the consultants wants it for research..
suck as much gas and air as it is feasibly possible.
hold baby when born.

birth two. tempted to write I want an epidural across the bump with permanent marker.

the rest was go with the flow and see what happens.

[Wjjkl]

Didn't bother with a birth plan other than to not have an epidural if possible due to my back problems. Having said that I would have had one if necessary.

Don't think there's any point in a plan as baby doesn't have a plan of how they are going to arrive - just go with it

[Cambam2010]

I didn't have a birth plan. I had a few ideas in my head about what was going to happen - hopefully a water birth, no epidural, DP to cut the cord, hopefully breastfeed, but I was open to adapt these things if circumstances required. I had nothing written down and was more than happy with the way my birth took place.

[stephgr]

Sadly despite longing to give birth naturally it just wasn't possible and I had no choice.

[WheresTheCoffee]

I found that writing a birth plan was useful in terms of researching things for myself. I was much more informed for my second birth then my first. I had no expectation that my birth plan would be respected second time around, but had coached DP in the parts that were important to me (not lying on my back to push for example) in case I needed back up! As it was, I had a great experience with DD, but then I went to a new hospital!

[MichelleMumsnet]

Thanks to everyone for posting. Congratulations to scarletoconnor who won the prize draw for a £50 John Lewis voucher. We'll be in touch soon!