Birthing Plan

lazygal

Hospital policy still has to come with consent. In HS, for example, they practice active management of labour, but you can refuse consent for every intervention. You might be marked out as awkward but so want. I refused some interventions because I had been clear about my preferences.

Moonbeam

I ave had 4 since January 09 in Holles St.
I had my husband well versed in what I wanted and did not want.
I wanted a healthy baby more or less summed it up but then there were my preferences...

No Intervention
No Epidural
Everything natural.


In an emergency anything goes.


I was lucky on my 1st there was no intervention and I think labour was about 2 hours,on my 2nd and my 1st very fast labour her heart dropped and they had to break my waters,on the 3rd it was all really quick again but I let them give me the injection to deliver the placenta because I felt so sick and was in shock again and was not well at all after another very fast labour on the last and the fastest (official labour is 2 minutes on my chart) I did not go in to shock which itself was a shock and everything went as I had hoped.

By the 3rd child my main aim was to make it to a hospital and have someone here with my other kids!!


Not everyone has it so straight forward but that doesn't mean that you are not allowed have preferences and to voice them.

Chattastrophe!

Moonbeam wrote: »

I ave had 4 since January 09 in Holles St.
I had my husband well versed in what I wanted and did not want.
I wanted a healthy baby more or less summed it up but then there were my preferences...

No Intervention
No Epidural
Everything natural.


In an emergency anything goes.

See what I found hard was actually figuring out what exactly was an emergency?

I was like you, I'd have loved an all natural birth, but I knew the priority was a healthy baby. So, like you, my plan was to go for as little intervention as possible, but to accept any intervention in case of an emergency.

Labour felt so lovely and natural to me at the start. I was at home, having had a consultant appointment that morning, where everything was fine. I was getting contractions, they got regular. A couple of hours later, my waters broke.

But an hour after that, with waters still coming with each contraction, meconium starting coming with them. That's when I rang a taxi to go to the hospital.

And when the hospital did a CTG, and were concerned about the results of that and also the meconium, I made the decision to go what they wanted. They gave me Oxytocin and an (ineffective) epidural, and the birth was hell to me. And the thing is, right up until I got the Oxytocin, I felt calm and fine and happy and in control, I could feel the baby moving away. I wasn't worried about either of us, despite the meconium etc, and in hindsight I wonder if I should have refused the Oxytocin.

But what if I'd refused it and the baby wasn't OK in the end? It's such a difficult judgement call to make, when you're actually there in the moment. It's all good and well in theory in the run-up to the birth! If I'd gone with my own feelings and my own instincts, I would have held off on the Oxytocin for a couple of hours at least and waited to see how things progressed. But who knows what would have happened then?

It worries me because I think that, if the exact same thing happened next time around, I probably still wouldn't trust my own instincts enough to go against what was being advised by the medical professionals. It was mentioned to me that CBT can help a lot in the lead-up to the birth, I'll definitely consider looking into it.

Moonbeam

I have to say labour has never felt lovely to me but there is always relief that pregnancy is over!!
I have to say I can not say what I would have done if anything went wrong I dunno if I could trust my instincts or panic!

Sligo1

Moonbeam wrote: »

I ave had 4 since January 09 in Holles St.
I had my husband well versed in what I wanted and did not want.
I wanted a healthy baby more or less summed it up but then there were my preferences...

No Intervention
No Epidural
Everything natural.


In an emergency anything goes.


I was lucky on my 1st there was no intervention and I think labour was about 2 hours,on my 2nd and my 1st very fast labour her heart dropped and they had to break my waters,on the 3rd it was all really quick again but I let them give me the injection to deliver the placenta because I felt so sick and was in shock again and was not well at all after another very fast labour on the last and the fastest (official labour is 2 minutes on my chart) I did not go in to shock which itself was a shock and everything went as I had hoped.

By the 3rd child my main aim was to make it to a hospital and have someone here with my other kids!!


Not everyone has it so straight forward but that doesn't mean that you are not allowed have preferences and to voice them.

Good grief! All I can say to you is fair play!

krankykitty

BRAIN acronym for informed consent
Benefits:

How will this help my labour?
How will this help my baby?
How will this help me?

Risks:

How will this affect my labour?
How will this affect my baby?
How will this affect me?

Alternatives:

What are my other options?

Intuition:

What does my gut say?

Need Time:

I need time to think this decision through.
I need a private moment to talk with my family.
I would like to wait for now.

kandr10

krankykitty wrote: »

BRAIN acronym for informed consent
Benefits:

How will this help my labour?
How will this help my baby?
How will this help me?

Risks:

How will this affect my labour?
How will this affect my baby?
How will this affect me?

Alternatives:

What are my other options?

Intuition:

What does my gut say?

Need Time:

I need time to think this decision through.
I need a private moment to talk with my family.
I would like to wait for now.

That's a fantastic way to remember how to ask the most relevant questions, which is definitely hard especially when in labour.

How Strange

I think the major issue in Irish hospitals is that most/perhaps all of them have a managed labour policy (created by Holles Street) and they are stretched beyond capacity. The reality is that these policies aren't compatible with the actual process of childbirth which could take 24-36 hours or more.

Once you go into hospital and are admitted for being in labour a clock starts ticking. I think it's 10 hours in Holles Street and 12 in the cone. That's not a long time especially on your first child. Once you get near that deadline the oxytocin, forceps etc etc are introduced to speed things up. It's proven that one intervention can lead to another in a cascade effect which increases the likelihood of it ending in a c-section.

You are entitled to refuse interventions but I think you need to be very aware of what's happening to feel confident to do that. That's where a birth plan/preference list is great because most likely you've done a bit of research and you know what to expect.

Also I think as a mother or a very soon to be mother you instinctively want your baby to be delivered safely. I don't think most women would put their baby's life at risk if the medical team said x, y or z had to be done.

lazygal

On my last pregnancy in HS I refused several offers of intervention, not because I wanted an all natural birth but because I knew nothing was happening after my waters broke and I wanted to wait for my consultant to perform a c section rather than pursuing a VBAC. I had to specifically tell one consultant "I am not interested in that option, I do not want that intervention" for him to agree to leave me alone. There was no need to rush decisions, I was getting antibiotics to combat infection risks and I knew myself nothing was progressing.

sciencebod

I just want to say thank you to you all for taking the time to reply to my post. I do understand that the birthing plan is not set in stone and yes baby's health and mine are paramount at the end of the day. However I would feel better if I just had something to take in with me that was written at a time when I was of sound mind and feeling less vulnerable, if you know what I mean. It's first time for me and things like the episiotomy scare the hell out of me. My friend recently had a baby and she felt the minute she agreed to the epidural, she was treated like a piece of meat down there. I will def be considering some of your points when putting the plan together - and no I wont be writing a dissertation - just a few pointers with regards to what I would prefer to happen and not happen on the day.