[mi.birthdoula]

So I'm writting my birth plan, and I wanted to get advice on the section of circumcision. If you think I need to add anything else to help protect my son please let me know....

Also, Please see post #6, a little more info I should have added.

~Circumcision…I DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CONSENT TO CIRCUMCISION. My son will be left intact and whole as God intended.
~Foreskin Care…My son's foreskin is NOT to be manipulated, or retracted in any way, shape or form by nurses, doctors, pediatricians, urologists or anyone else. Please keep your hands to yourself, and not touch my son's penis AT ALL. There is absolutely no reason or need for anyone to "See Inside," or "Just make sure" of anything. We will NOT tolerate anything less.

TIA!

 

[kate3]

I've been an OB nurse for 20 years and have seen countless birth plans. You want a birth plan that is short, direct, professional, and respectful.

I would strongly suggest softening your tone. It sounds accusatory and hostile, and considering the staff hasn't done anything "wrong", the wording seems too strong. The whole "keep your hands to yourself" bit seems sexual and completely inappropriate.

How about "We do not wish to have our son circumcised and do not consent to this procedure (or surgery, whatever you choose). Please do not retract or manipulate the foreskin in anyway during routine care or examinations."

Honestly, that is all you need to say. "We will NOT tolerate anything less" is really hostile and once you set this tone is becomes far more likely that people will stop reading.

Look back over your whole birth plan. See if you can get it to one page (two tops). Nurses are so busy. We really don't have time to read a multi-page birth plan. If this is your tone throughout I really, really suggest changing your approach to something a little less accusatory. You can still get your point across without being adversarial.

 

[mysticmomma]

Way too long!

We do not wish to have our son circumcised and do not consent to this procedure. In accordance with the AAP intact care guidelines, do not manipulate the foreskin in anyway during routine care or examinations.

You could also print cards for his bassinet and get stickers for his diaper.

 

[~Ryleigh's Mommy~]

I have to wholeheartedly agree with the PP. I'm not a nurse, but I work on an OB floor as a nurse assistant, and the nurses react very negatively to that kind of "accusatory" birth plans.
It worries me a little bit that what you posted is only 'part' of the birth plan. If you have more than 1 page, the staff is seriously not going to read it. Or will glance over it and roll their eyes.

Honestly, I think the most important thing is to always have someone with the baby. If the baby goes to the nursery, so does mom or dad.
I know of one nurse who always retracts boys "to check for hypospadias" and teaches other nurses to do this. (yes I've reported her, and she doesn't do it around me anymore but who knows)
Do you think the nurse in the nursery reads the moms' birth plans? heck no.

the only person who will read your birth plan is your labor nurse. and your doc if you show it to him ahead of time. If you get an on call doc if you deliver after hours, they're not gonna read it either (they usually walk in the door as you're pushing....'round here anyway)

I'm not trying to be negative. I'm just telling it like it is because I'm sure you'd rather hear the truth.
The only time I've ever seen the nurses "care" about a birth plan is when they think it's hilarious and then they pass it around to the other nurses to laugh at (

)

Yes, I do hate my job sometimes, and it's that kind of attitude I've seen from OB staff that fueled me to have a home birth (even though I STILL get harassed about it at work....)

good luck to you. pay attention to things, go with baby, and SPEAK UP, and you'll be fine, birth plan or not.

 

[Dahlea]

I agree with the PP and suggest that you just don't let him out of your sight while he's there. Have your husband go with him if you can't.

 

[mi.birthdoula]

I will defintely take your advice. I was told by the Labor and delivery nurse manager at our hospital to be very direct and up front with how we feel about circumcision (and vac's) because there are alot of nurses that she directs that try to do everything in their power to persuade parents to circumcise. She also said that she has to constantly remind them to just leave the foreskin alone, which is why I put that in there. She said she wished more parents would leave their sons' intact and she said that if she had a really crunchy momma come in, then maybe they would listen to her for once. She is an intactivist, with 2 intact sons herself, and she said she gets so frustrated with her nurses at times.

But no, the whole birth plan is not like that, just sections on circumcision and vac's.

So thank you!

 

[~Ryleigh's Mommy~]

oh i see! that's so awesome about the manager, I hope she gets those nurses whipped into shape.

I hope I didn't sound like I was coming down on you. You should have seen the birth plan I had for my first child (who was a hospital birth, and who was born before I work in OB)

 

[mi.birthdoula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Ryleigh's Mommy~ I hope I didn't sound like I was coming down on you. You should have seen the birth plan I had for my first child (who was a hospital birth, and who was born before I work in OB)

Not at all! I probably should have put that other info in the original post. I've decided to shorten it up, and just get the point across quickly on it. I do know that I will have to say quite a bit once we do get to the hospital either way. I talked with the Nurse Manager, and she was totally awesome which helped to alleviate some of my fears. She told me to get the birth plan done, and email it to her by ASAP, and she would make sure that the Nursery Manager read it too, and the nurse assigned to me the morning of the section (she gave me her direct line to remind her a few days before I'm scheduled.

) This is the third birth I've had there, (all will have been sections) and I've had some pretty bad experiences with the nurses. The only reason I'm going there again is because of my OB. He did my last section, and I really can't see having someone else do this one. He is completely on board with everything that I want, so thats worth something to me.

 

[~Ryleigh's Mommy~]

o gosh, I totally didn't know it was a planned section. I feel like a real heel now. That, along with the experiences you've had in the past, definitely makes for a different situation. I guess you can pretty much disregard most of what I said (referring to labor nurses and on call OBs, that portion of the birth plan, etc)

Congrats on your baby, I hope everything goes wonderfully

:

 

[tutucrazy]

Sounds good! I hope you have as gentle a birth as possible.

 

[kate3]

Quote:

I've decided to shorten it up, and just get the point across quickly on it.

This sounds like an excellent plan.
In addition to giving copies to the nurse managers, also bring a copy to have placed in your chart and a copy to have placed in the baby's chart. That way the nursery and the pp floor will all have the same information.