Or are you even writing one?
I had planned a natural delivery with DS1 & wrote a longish birth plan. Of course everything went pear-shaped when I was admitted to L&D with severe pre-e/HELLPS & stroke level blood pressure Even though I handed my plan to the midwife on-call & a nurse, I don't think either of them read it as at that point an emergency c-section was in my immediate future & everyone (except for maybe me) knew it! In the end I felt a bit foolish for writing an elaborate plan that ended up with no bearing at all!
This time around I almost feel like I am jinxing myself if I write one. I have hired a doula. She & I have already gone over a "birth preference" but its mainly for her use.
I am thinking if I do write one for the hospital staff to keep it short, sweet & to the point. I am also thinking about writing a few lines re: c-section & my preferences if it comes to that. I desperately want my VBAC but I feel it's good (& leads to less disappointment) to be aware of all situations & scenarios. Sadly, I learnt this after my 1st experience!
What do you think? Please feel free to offer me any ideas or suggestions re: VBAC birth plan if you have some. tia
Re: Tell me about your VBAC Birth Plan.
It's a good idea to have a c-section preferences, too. I couldn't bring myself to write one, though!
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
I didn't write a VBAC plan; it was basically "leave me the fvck alone" LOL.
I did write a c/s birth plan for just in case though. It helped me feel better about the prospect of RCS. I can post it later if people want.
I had a birth plan for my med-free birth turned c/s, and I do feel a bit foolish about it now. The funny thing is, my midwife and the OB who ended up doing the c/s actually referred to it several times, so I it wasn't useless. I guess I just feel foolish about it since I have learned that birth can go the opposite of planned. I did have a section of my birth plan related to c/s, but it really just covered the absolute basics. If/when we decide to have a second child, I will be sure to include a more detailed c/s plan, particularly since the hospital I would go to has started doing gentle cesareans.
Do you know any details about that? I would be interested to hear more.
I felt kind of stupid for having planned a water birth with my first. But there's nothing wrong with thinking through your options and making a decision about what you would prefer.
It sounds like you are prepared to be open-minded, but I agree that a birth preferences list would be good for you to consider and share with your OB. Since you are going for a VBAC and have a doula, you can talk with the doula about how you want to handle pain management, if you want things offered or not offered, etc. If I were having a VBAC, I would request that they allow the cord to finishing pulsing before clamping/cutting.
Things you might want to consider writing down and bringing up with the doc/nurses is that if you have a c/s, you want to see DC over the curtain right away after he comes out, Daddy will always stay with DC if at all possible, and any other baby care preferences. We requested that they not take Baby out to give first bath until after I had a chance to hold him (which you remember takes longer with c/s.) We also requested no lotions (such as Johnson and Johnson) since I am sensitive to all of those smells and I had heard from friends that some well-meaning nurses just do this automatically after the bath. I think those were the big things in addition to preferences about vax, etc.
Keegan Patrick - Bilateral Clubfeet found at Anatomy Scan.
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For the life of me I cannot make a link clicky, but here is a description of a gentle c/s that happened for one of the women in our ICAN chapter.
https://www.icanri.org/christys-birth-story.php
It incorporates many aspects of a vaginal birth, including delayed cord clamping, immediate skin-to-skin and nursing. It requires a bit of planning and advocates in our area have been successful in extending the practice to other hospitals in the region. I hope for a VBAC in the future, but it is nice to know that other c/s options exist.
I'm not 100% sure of all of the details related to the gentle c/s, but I did post a link of a gentle c/s performed at a nearby hospital. The hospital is far more NB/VBAC friendly then others in the area, and the two OBs that performed the gentle c/s are also back-ups to a CNM who does HB in the area. Luckily, we have a great birth network that has also been pushing the larger "baby factory" nearby to incorporate more VBAC and gentle c/s practices. In fact, they just had their first gentle c/s and a VBA2C. A big step for a hospital not known for a progressive VBAC policy.
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