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Birth Plans

2K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  PitBullMom 
#1 ·
Is anyone else writing a birth plan? Why or why not? Care to share?
 
#2 ·
I wrote one up, but was told that unless you have someone hardcore monitoring it, that my lovely hospital generally overlooks them. Oh so nice.

The things I am very adamant about being followed are who is in the delivery room, immediate skin to skin, no epidural, no interns or med students.
 
#4 ·
I wrote one up, but was told that unless you have someone hardcore monitoring it, that my lovely hospital generally overlooks them. Oh so nice.
ARGH!!!

That would drive me nuts. So, are you getting a doula so that your wishes can be enforced? And that is SO nuts that they can't be bothered to respect you!!!
 
#3 ·
I did for my last because he was a hospital birth, and the only one that I was proactive about like that. This time, I'm not because its a home birth. So I don't have to fight for what I want and I can be as flexible as I feel like. So in my mind, a plan would only create stress for my situation.
 
#6 ·
My husband and sister are going to be in the room. Hubby is a bit leinient sometimes, but my younger sister is the one not to mess with. So she is taking place of a doula. She will also throw out people who don't need to be in the room. She's done that during my mandatory hospital visits. "I don't care if this is a teaching hospital. Use a different patient!"
 
#7 ·
Even though I had one last time, which said delayed cord clamping, and my OB approved it, the Dr who attended ignored it completely, even though DH *just* said it too like a minute before he clampeed and cut immediately anyway. I was SO ticked off!
That's the exact reason DH went everywhere with the baby. Hospitals just do whatever is convient, or "normal" or idk, whatever they want it seems like.Even with a birth plan, stay vigilant!
 
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#9 ·
I have one. I wasn't going to because I'm delivering at a baby-friendly hospital that's pretty low-intervention (20% c-section rate!), with a team of midwives whom I completely trust... I also work at that hospital (though not in L&D), so I'm familiar with policies and what to say/do if there's an issue. Stuff like no IV, being able to walk around, being able to eat/drink, intermittent monitoring, etc. - is pretty normal. But I wrote one because I had a few other, specific requests that I want the staff to be aware of.

For starters, I really want a room with a labor tub, but there are only 2, so I put in there that I'd like one if it's available. I want to be able to use a ball, too - they have them, but who knows if I'll think to ask about it. I don't want anyone to give me estimates about how long it'll take or how much time is left - when I had my first, they kept telling me it was going to be hours and hours, and I didn't think I could handle the pain getting so much worse. Turns out I was progressing quickly; I went from 5cm to delivered in about 4 hours. So this time I don't want to think about time at all; I just want to take it one moment at a time.

I also added a note about my husband, who has type 1 diabetes. There's a good chance he'll forget to eat in all the excitement, and I doubt I'll notice an oncoming hypoglycemic episode while in the throes of labor. ;) So I asked the nurses to just be aware and offer him juice/soda, or some of the snacks we've packed, if they notice him acting funny. I'm going to throw some glucose tabs in the snack bag, too.

If I didn't have anything specific or semi-unusual, I probably wouldn't have bothered. But I did, and I don't want to be thinking about it in the moment.

Oh, and I started it by saying that we are fully confident in our choice of caregivers and delivery location, and look forward to working with the midwife team and nursing staff, which is completely true. Honey vs. vinegar, y'know? Being on the other side of the patient care experience, I know that when a patient or family member starts out with hostility and/or obvious mistrust, it's going to be a bad day for everyone. I want to go into this positively, and make things as easy for the staff (and us!) as possible.
 
#10 ·
Here's my birth plan this time.

"Please make sure I eat and drink and move."

I do have other things on there besides just that, but I really believe that staying on top of those three things will allow everything else to fall into place. This isn't my first rodeo but I want it to be my best one so far.
 
#11 ·
This was posted to me elsewhere... it was meant as a nice/supportive comment however, it is the actual reason we wrote a plan and why we're being so darn militant about it.

at the end if the day, the ideal outcome is a healthy mom and a healthy baby. L&D nurses joke that a birth plan is a sure c-section-- because mom is so focused on controlling the situation, she isn't listening to her body and her baby. Is this always the case, no... But truly go into your birth experience with an open mind and if you are already mistrusting your provider, find a new one. Good luck!
She has a good point on some of it, but though the ideal outcome IS a healthy mom and healthy baby, it DOES MATTER how the process goes. There are piles of women who have PTSD from horrible experiences during birth. Those who decide to not have more kids simply because they never want to experience the horror of their last birth.
 
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