[atpeace]

There are 100 days left until my due date, so I think it's time to start thinking about how this pregnancy will end, eventually!

Has anyone due in November started (or finished) writing a birth plan? I have no idea where to start, and I'd like to start talking to DH about all the decision we'll have to make soon (we've been kind of ignoring it so far). Where did you start? Did you get forms online, did you follow book suggestions, did you talk to your care provider, or did you just randomly pick things you want/don't want? How specific are you? I want to stay a flexible as that is what books have suggested, but that's just based on a mainstream book (Easy Labor, written by an M.D.).

Anyone have any suggestions or experiences to share? Or are you not writing a birth plan at all? For those who had one in previous pregnancies, did you find they were useful? What are you going different this time?

Thanks!

 

[sunshine*girl]

I will be writing a birth plan even though I seriously doubt it will be necessary. We will be birthing at the "hippy hospital" so I think what I want and what I want to avoid are going to be pretty standard practice for them. It is always a possibility for me to "reserve" my midwife to be present-something that isn't common here in Sweden. If we decide to do that then she already knows most of my desires regarding birth. She has also not ruled out the possibility of a home birth if I decide to do that at the last minute. She's told me if I go into labor and decide to stay home to just give her a call.

Even if we do decide to have her there we will still write a birth plan. I think it's a good idea to have exactly what you want on paper. Not to mention the fact that it will be a great opportunity for you and your partner to discuss what you would like and what you would like to avoid.

A friend of mine did a hospital tour 6 weeks before her due date (she knew she wouldn't last till 40 weeks and delivered 4 weeks early) and brought her birth plan with her. She wanted a full length mirror in the delivery room so they brought one out of storage in preparation for her delivery.

 

[gen_here]

I'm planning on pretty much using the same one I did for my son's birth - just tweaking a few things (like, I'm taking out the part about wanting a mirror for birth - it was really distracting and I couldn't get anyone to believe me that I didn't want to see the birth at that point).

But, really, we had a great birth experience and our birth plan was read before we got there and totally respected (I called the hospital ahead of time because we live an hour away).

I got mine from a few different places. Part from our Bradley Birth class, and parts from websites. The one thing I didn't do that most "guidelines" say is to keep it to one page. Mine was two full pages, with a cover "letter" (just a couple sentences about our family - feel free to discuss changes with us, etc).

Here's the sites that I found somewhat helpful:
http://www.childbirth.org/interactive/ibirthplan.html
http://www.birthplan.com/
http://www.parentsplace.com/pregnanc...=adid=10599129

 

[mom2emerson]

We haven't started yet and will probably use one similar to our last, which I think we did about 6 weeks before my EDD.

We based it on suggestions from our birthing class (Hypnobirthing) and the book that came with it. We talked about what we absolutely wanted and were comfortable with and put it down on paper. Alot of stuff in the books/online suggestions don't apply anymore (ie, my hospital does not do enemas anymore and they are mentioned often in some suggested birthplans). I made sure I had an idea of what I wanted before my hospital tour so I could ask alot of questions about their standard practices and things they absolutely would not allow (burning candles). That way I wasn't putting anything in my birthplan that was unneeded.

I went over my birthplan with my OB at about 36 weeks. I knew there was a slim chance she would even deliver the baby (we have Kaiser so it is whoever is on call at the hospital at that moment), but she signed off on our plan and I made copies of that one to take to the hospital: one for our file, one for the nurse on duty, one posted on our door (with a sign saying, "quiet please, Hypnobirth in process).

The only "flexibility" we had written into ours was "unless requested" (by us) and "unless needed due to medical emergency" and then ONLY if discussed and approved by myself or DH.

We had a "mainstream" hospital birth that went beautifully!!!! I was so impressed with the staff respecting our wishes, including no vaginal checks for dilation unless we requested, leave us completely alone unless absolutely needed (to check vitals etc), etc.

ps. LOVE your on line name!!!!

 

[pageta]

I did a rough draft of mine a month ago and then revised it yesterday. I think it's done now.

I did some "research" beforehand. I went through a quick list of questions with my provider - basically, if it's the middle of the night and you're just giving automatic answers to the nurses, what is your usual protocol on these issues? Some answers I liked, some I didn't, but it gave me an idea of where my battles might potentially be. Some things I clarified (the things I didn't agree with) but I didn't argue or try to make a case for my perspective.

Then I met with my doula to find out what typically happens at hospital births where I am delivering. There's protocol, there's what your provider says is okay, and then there is what really actually happens. Since my doula has been present at a lot of births, she had a lot of good answers for me. I shared with her what things were important to me and she told me how likely I was to get those things automatically and we discussed how I might get the ones that weren't usual practice. I also asked her how much the nurses pay attention to birth plans at that hospital - some hospitals just ignore them, others are pretty good about following them.

So then I wrote out what I wanted and put it away for a month. Through my conversation with my doula, she suggested that I consider a different provider that I wasn't familiar with because the other provider did more things in the fashion that I want them. She had the same OB I have for all her births, but there is a midwife in town (aside from the midwives I already knew about and decided not to seek care from) who she thinks would be a better fit for me. So tomorrow I have an interview with that midwife. However, I have spoken with a number of patiens of the midwife in the mean time, and I am pretty sure I will be switching.

So back to the birth plan...mine is three pages long. One page for labor, one for delivery, and one for postpartum/newborn care (which my doula suggested). I have in bold two or three word phrases stating my wishes and then in non-bold italics I have an explanation for why that item is important to me. So it's user friendly depending on the stage of labor - they can just glance at it or if they want to know more, they can read the fine print. So, for example, with the Hepatitis B vaccine that we want to decline - I stated that I do not have Hepatits B and thus our baby is not at risk; I said that we have discussed this with our pediatrician and that we are prepared to sign the necessary waiver for declining this procedure.

You just have to do some soul-searching and ask yourself what is really important to you. What are you most afraid of? worried about? The answers to those questions are a great place to start when deciding what to put in your birth plan. I mean, with my OB, he does not do routine episiotomies (he does about one per year) so that wouldn't be an item in my birth plan.

It does take time to write a good birth plan, but I think it is definitely worth it.

 

[atpeace]

Thank you all for you fabulous suggestions and tips. I am truly impressed with the wealth of knowledge you've shared with me and very excited to get started doing some soul-searching with DH. We've set aside this Saturday to discuss, ponder, and compile it all together. Thanks again!

PS Mom2emerson, I picked my nickname at the start of this pregnancy, when I first joined MDC because I was working very hard at "letting go" and determined to spend this pregnancy in a peaceful state of mind (I had a miscarriage at 14 weeks, followed by an ectopic pregnancy right after, last year, so I was very freaked out and worried about this pregnancy). Inner peace was my big goal this pregnancy.

 

[mom2emerson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atpeace PS Mom2emerson, I picked my nickname at the start of this pregnancy, when I first joined MDC because I was working very hard at "letting go" and determined to spend this pregnancy in a peaceful state of mind (I had a miscarriage at 14 weeks, followed by an ectopic pregnancy right after, last year, so I was very freaked out and worried about this pregnancy). Inner peace was my big goal this pregnancy.

Your response gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes. Big hugs and many many blessings to you and your baby, mamma!!!! Congrats on this joyous time.

Namaste and continued peace!
Debora

 

[EmmetnLindley]

Well, our homework for Lamaze class for next Wednesday is going to be to create a birth plan. I am going to use this site...
http://earthmamaangelbaby.com/birth_plan.html

I am going to make one for a home birth and then another for a hospital birth.

 

[BabyBumblebee]

Dh and I have written down a few 'non-negotiables' but they're really more about after this babe arrives ( i.e NO CIRC!!! No bottles/pacifiers, no unsupervised or unauthorised procedures) I think my hesitancy to do the full plan is that I know in my heart of hearts that this delivery is going to be another c-section; I would dearly love to vbac, but I have structural anomalies that are going to make that darn near impossible. I am going to be very very straightforward about what we want for the babe though!

 

[hopeful1]

I got my ideas for my birth plan from several different places. The journal I have has an example of a birth plan in it, I've used magazine articles and also my own ideas. I printed out two copies and gave one to my OB to keep in my file. The other one, DH will hold on to to ensure my wishes are kept. My OB is great and we went over my plan together to make sure we were on the same page.

I've found that a birth plan is only good if you make them stick to it. Have someone at the birth to advocate for you. In my experience, that is a difficult time to have to be your own advocate... especially if you're in pain, your thinking can get a little foggy.

If you need some ideas, go on-line or check out some of the pregnancy journals at the book stores. You can eliminate what you don't want or add what you do.

 

[One Art]

I never actually wrote out a plan, but did talk about it with my midwife and with my dh.... it'll be about the same this time except that my dd will be there, and I will need an extra person to hang out with her. The plan: Homebirth, with my mother who is a midwife, and another midwife, my dh, a woman who will watch dd, dd, and my sister, who took and will take pictures of the birth. I plan on spending a lot of time in water during the labor, as I did last time, and probably will get out to push, though I got out earlier last time because I was getting too hot (it was august). As my dd came in 4 hours, I am dreading/hoping for a shorter birth, and simultaneously trying to prepare myself for a much longer birth. We will see. I am in a mini crisis about my plan though, because the woman who will be there for my dd might not be around! It is not decided one way or another yet, but I really wanted her for my dd, and also, she was there when I was born, and I had really wanted her to be at dd's birth, but dh didn't know her well enough then so I let it go... anyway, I am really hoping she will be there, because I asked a backup person and she still hasn't replied and seemed doubtful, and after that I don't know who I could ask! (my sister is not a "kid person" though she has helped my mom with a lot of births... she just doesn't know what to do with kids, can't relate to them).