Birth plan?

qwertytlk

H, overheard someone talkking about making their birth plan today. Im not sure if i should be makin one, my plan is to have the baby and if possible id like an epidural! What would a plan entail apart from that? Do many people make birth plans and how are they perceived by midwives/hospital staff? Thanks

liliq

Hehe... yours is the best birth plan I've heard so far! Love it!!
Emm... I'm not doing a birth plan as such... more a kind of summary of preferences! I don't want to be rushed through anything, so if they start going on about progress etc. I'll prob get a bit narky!
I'd rather not have an epidural... in saying that I'm sure I could possibly be begging for one the minute contractions start!
I don't want to say "oh, I want x, y and z to happen" mostly because although this is my first... I'm fairly sure I've no idea what's gonna hit me, and I doubt anything would go to plan anyway!

But mostly as you say- the plan is to have a baby!!! :eek::D

Nicole22

I wrote a birth plan for my son (hes 3 now) and I plan on doing one for this pregnancy aswell. Mine was recieved gladly although at the time it didnt seem to be the norm as the midwife seemed surprised, but not at all put out! She was impressed that Id done my homework lol.
Also it came in handy during the labour as in it I mentioned a couple of times that I really did not want an episiotomy. At the very end of the labour a doc stuck his head in and immediately mentioned doing an episiotomy (have no idea why as my son was born after only 15mins of pushing, I can only guess he was in a hurry to be elsewhere) and the midwife spoke up for me and said no, that I had it in my birth plan that I definately didnt want one.
You can put in it whatever you want really. Stuff like what position you would like to try give birth in, what pain relief you'd prefer, if assisted delivery is really neccessary then whether you would prefer vacuum or forceps, anything you dont want done, whether you want the syntometrine/oxytocin injection after delivery of the baby to assist the delivery of the placenta... Try google for a sample birth plan, I got mine from a pregnancy book I had the first time and just changed it around to suit my wishes. Hope that helps:) And congratulations and good luck!
Edit: This link might help
http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/labourandbirth/planningyourbabysbirth/writingbirthplan/

Ayla

Although you may not have to have one in writing, it's not a bad idea to research your options & possible situations for labour to help you understand what may occur when you're at hosp. That way if there's time & they ask you if you want x or y you'll have a clue what they're talking about & you'll be able to make an educated decision.

I didn't have a written birth plan, but I knew going into my labours that I wanted 100% natural (i.e.: no gas/air, epidural, episiotomy, injections of any sort) if my labour allowed. That left me completely in control of the situation & able to change my mind at any point if I wanted/needed to. I also knew I wanted the cord to stop pulsing before my hubby cut it, I'd rather tear than be cut, and I wanted to be able to walk around as I felt the need during labour.

We visited the labour ward when I was preg with my first and spoke with a midwife there who gave us a personalized tour. I expressed my wishes & she confirmed they'd be adhered to as much as possible. Then when I was admitted w/ my first I expressed them again & someone must have written them in my notes b/c it wasn't even an issue after. There wasn't time with my second daughter (she was almost an ambulance delivery) so the fact they tried to put the gas/air mask on & they cut the cord/gave me the picodin injection automatically after she was born...well I can't rightly complain about that.

Long story short, educate yourself about what labour's all about, then decide on what you'd hope to do. Keep it flexible & know that what you'd "like" to happen and what actually may happen may be different.

Cat Melodeon

I did a plan out in detail. I was asked to write one up by the antenatal clinic midwife who then went through it all with me at the next appointment and put notes in my file. Again, it was things like preferring to tear rather than be cut, wanting to avoid the epidural if possible (I ended up asking for one but was too far gone, gave birth within an hour of asking!), that I wanted to breastfeed as soon as possible after the birth etc. Some of what I wanted was standard hospital policy anyway, but policy sometimes seems to shift depending on which consultant is on duty so it was good to have it in writing. It was a great opportunity to go through everything and the midwives in the clinic and later on the labour ward were very supportive. They try to get as many women as possible to 'go natural' as the hospital has quite a high c-section rate compared to the national average, so any woman coming to them with a plan like mine would be encouraged.

Nicole22

Yeah thats very true about knowing that your plan is a guideline to how you'd like it all to go but not set in stone. I did mention in mine aswell that I was aware the plan could change and it has to be flexible to allow for unforseen circumstances. It really is all about doing your homework so you can make informed decisions and so you can be happy that you had the labour the way you wanted as much as is possible. Also its good because in the thick of it you dont need to be having conversations about what you do or dont want, they'll know looking at your plan and you can concentrate on getting that baby out:D

Penny Dreadful

Ayla wrote: »

Although you may not have to have one in writing, it's not a bad idea to research your options & possible situations for labour to help you understand what may occur when you're at hosp. That way if there's time & they ask you if you want x or y you'll have a clue what they're talking about & you'll be able to make an educated decision.

I didn't have a written birth plan, but I knew going into my labours that I wanted 100% natural (i.e.: no gas/air, epidural, episiotomy, injections of any sort) if my labour allowed. That left me completely in control of the situation & able to change my mind at any point if I wanted/needed to. I also knew I wanted the cord to stop pulsing before my hubby cut it, I'd rather tear than be cut, and I wanted to be able to walk around as I felt the need during labour.

We visited the labour ward when I was preg with my first and spoke with a midwife there who gave us a personalized tour. I expressed my wishes & she confirmed they'd be adhered to as much as possible. Then when I was admitted w/ my first I expressed them again & someone must have written them in my notes b/c it wasn't even an issue after. There wasn't time with my second daughter (she was almost an ambulance delivery) so the fact they tried to put the gas/air mask on & they cut the cord/gave me the picodin injection automatically after she was born...well I can't rightly complain about that.

Long story short, educate yourself about what labour's all about, then decide on what you'd hope to do. Keep it flexible & know that what you'd "like" to happen and what actually may happen may be different.

Cat Melodeon wrote: »

I did a plan out in detail. I was asked to write one up by the antenatal clinic midwife who then went through it all with me at the next appointment and put notes in my file. Again, it was things like preferring to tear rather than be cut, wanting to avoid the epidural if possible (I ended up asking for one but was too far gone, gave birth within an hour of asking!), that I wanted to breastfeed as soon as possible after the birth etc. Some of what I wanted was standard hospital policy anyway, but policy sometimes seems to shift depending on which consultant is on duty so it was good to have it in writing. It was a great opportunity to go through everything and the midwives in the clinic and later on the labour ward were very supportive. They try to get as many women as possible to 'go natural' as the hospital has quite a high c-section rate compared to the national average, so any woman coming to them with a plan like mine would be encouraged.

I have to ask why As someone who has no children yet (fingers crossed one day though ) I wonder why tearing would be better than a neat surgical cut?

Ayla

I wonder why tearing would be better than a neat surgical cut?

As with everything, there are different schools of thought on this, but based on what I'd read, it seemed to me that tearing would be better b/c it tends to be a smaller injury and easier to heal.

And just b/c they cut you doesn't necessarily mean you won't tear further...as an approximate mental image, imagine holding a piece of fabric lengthwise then trying to pull it apart...it doesn't easily happen, but if you make a cut with scissors, the cut easily rips further.

That said, I'm sure many will come on & offer other scenarios. It's all possible. I just thought going into my labours if I could avoid an episiotomy I would. As was I avoided the entire situation & left the labour ward without a single stitch, so I don't have any first-hand knowledge of either situation.

Penny Dreadful

Ayla wrote: »

As with everything, there are different schools of thought on this, but based on what I'd read, it seemed to me that tearing would be better b/c it tends to be a smaller injury and easier to heal.

And just b/c they cut you doesn't necessarily mean you won't tear further...as an approximate mental image, imagine holding a piece of fabric lengthwise then trying to pull it apart...it doesn't easily happen, but if you make a cut with scissors, the cut easily rips further.

That said, I'm sure many will come on & offer other scenarios. It's all possible. I just thought going into my labours if I could avoid an episiotomy I would. As was I avoided the entire situation & left the labour ward without a single stitch, so I don't have any first-hand knowledge of either situation.

Wow that was lucky wasn't it?
Which ever way I look at it, tear or cut, it makes me squirm in my seat regardless:o

SanFran07

Penny Dreadful wrote: »

Wow that was lucky wasn't it?
Which ever way I look at it, tear or cut, it makes me squirm in my seat regardless:o

There are things you can do that may minimize having perineal injury - labouring in water, perineal massage, avoiding epidural, giving birth in any position other than on your back, no coached pushing.

cynder

I had a perineal tear he was 5 weeks prem and he came out fast, very fast and his shoulder caught me on his way out and tore me right the way up. nothing should have stopped that. the 3rd guy re did all the damage and i was told to stop pushing if your told to stop pushing STOP its hard but worth it in the end the damage with the 3rd guy was worst than the other guy, i burst open with the pressure, after the stop warning was given there was 6 doctors in the unit looking at me and then it was decided to gently push him out, little tiny bursts of pressure to stop me tearing anymore. took over an hour to stitch me together again.

Nicole22

Well the reason I am so against episiotomys (unless really needed if baby is in distress) is because of hearing my mother in laws experience. She had one, albiet 30 years ago, and she said that "two holes basically became one" and that she was destroyed and literally couldnt sit down for 6mths. She had to get a special donut shaped cushion to sit on and was left with a massive scar. After she said that i went a-googling and didnt like what I found. They used to do them routinely years ago. My mother had 4 children and on the first three she was cut. She didnt have to many problems afterwards but from what i read she was lucky and in the minority. Like Ayla said with the piece of fabric scenario, thats spot on, it makes sense really when you think about it. Some doctors still seem way to quick to do them nowadays imo:(

Nicole22

Oh and to add I needed only one stitch after the birth it was nothing. Whereas if the doctor had his way he would've cut me and I'm sure I would've needed a lot more then! As I mentioned in my post above I have no idea why he wanted to cut me, my son was born after only 15mins of pushing, there were no problems at all:rolleyes:

How Strange

I did a birth plan which was more a list of my preferences in an ideal situation. When I was admitted I gave it to the midwife and she put in my file and all the staff I dealt with that day looked at it. The delivery midwives read through it and always explained why they had to do something contrary to what I wanted. I wanted intermittent monitoring of the baby during labour but when they said the heart beat was irregular and they'd like to monitor continuously I immediately agreed. I think that was the only thing on my list which they couldn't allow and I honestly didn't care as I just wanted a heating baby.

Thankfully the coombe have a policy of allowing you to tear naturally rather than doing episiotomies. I was terrified of being cut so that was a huge relief for me.

As someone else said if your midwife tells you to stop pushing then do just that to ensure minimal tearing.

RIRI

As others have said the birth plan should be about how you would perfer things to go. Something to consider though is how you would like things to be managed if things doon't go to plan.

For example (not mening to frighten anyone here..) if baby needs to go to SCBU - would you like dad (or birth partner) to go with baby or stay with you? With all emotions etc involved in such a scenario it would be an idea to discuss this with who ever you plan on having with you during the delivery.
Just a thought

Good luck