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May 2011 Moms
token - Re: your birth plan
can you post it again? I thought i saved the link, but i didn't 
Thanks!
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Re: token - Re: your birth plan
Thank you for allowing us to summarize our desires for the birth of our first child. We have decided to have a doula present to assist us in staying relaxed and comfortable. Following are a number of items listed that if at all possible, we would like to accomplish with your help.
1. If I go past my due date and baby and I are doing fine, I prefer to go into labour
naturally rather than be induced. If induction becomes necessary, I would prefer
to try natural induction methods or having my membranes stripped.
2. I prefer to have internal exams conducted by the same person each time (as shift changes allow).
3. We would like the absolute minimum of time attached to monitoring, I would like to be monitored using a Doppler as much as possible.
4. Ultimately, I want to be able to walk around and move as I wish while in labour.
5. Please offer me pain medications only if I ask for them.
6. During labor, we would like the ability to: walk freely, use the shower and labor tub, change positions throughout, have access to clear liquids, have a quiet and encouraging environment, and avoid an IV, if possible I would like a saline lock instead in case it is needed.
7. If I can feel the urge to push, I would like to push at my own pace (Mother-
Directed Pushing).
8. I prefer not to have an episiotomy, but would rather tear.
9. If labor or delivery seems stalled, we would like the opportunity to try different
positions (hands and knees, squatting, birth ball, etc.)
10. If possible please allow the shoulders and body of my baby to be born
spontaneously, on their own.
11. No stirrups please unless I?m having a medical emergency or I ask for them.
12. We would like to not have the cord cut right away; we would like it to pulse for at least 2 minutes.
13. We would like the baby to be placed on the mother's chest immediately after
birth in order to "bond" and nurse. We would like to have as much time with our
baby as we choose before baby is taken for routine procedures.
14. If a C-Section is not an emergency, please give us time alone to think about it before asking for our written consent.
15. Our first choice for a room is the Victorian suite, if not a private room if possible.
Thank you for your support during the birth of our baby.
It's a bit longer than maybe it should be, but my doula did most of the putting together, and she's been to the hospital I'm birthing at many times and knows what is necessary to say. My doctor gave me the thumbs-up on all these requests, with the knowledge that I know sh*t happens and sometimes the baby and my body don't acknowledge birth plans.
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Thank you!!!
My minimal research states that it is easier to recuperate when tearing naturally, related to wound healing. A "clean, straight" cut inhibits the natural joining of cells and tissues, especially when it relates to innervation, to muscle joining, and other processes. It is counterintuitive, but makes sense from a biological standpoint.
i.e. Your body knows what to do re: how to heal from a "self made cut" than a forced cut.
Several reasons:
-episiotomies are often performed "just in case", not really because they're necessary or because you would tear. So you get cut instead of nothing.
-cutting makes it more likely you'll tear beyond the cut. So then you get to heal from both
- tears heal stronger than cuts
- a tear happens at the weakest natural point. A cut creates a weak point in tissue that wasn't the weakest point.
I could probably come up with more reasons. My doctor doesn't often do an episiotomy - the only times she could recall, it was required for a forceps delivery (which she can't do personally, but another doctor did for a couple of her deliveries).
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This kind of sums everything up:
https://www.babycenter.com/0_episiotomy_165.bc
The scary part is this is one of those things some doctors just do. They don't necessarily discuss it first.
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Maybe if you're extra nice they won't just cut you. Remember, you catch more bees with honey.
lololol
ha.. i was happy to hear they ask for verbal consent before they do that at the hospital i will be delivery at. but my midwife also said she never does them unless the baby needs out fast and they have to use forceps/vacuum. but she massages and lets us tear otherwise..
Funny you say that. I actually had a discussion about this with my OB at my last appointment and she told me she almost never does episiotomys. She explained her rationale behind not doing them (much of which has already been stated), and I felt comfortable with her answer (since I don't want one anyway).
People can jump down my throat all they want. My philosophy has served me well through life (including through other medical procedures and surgeries). I never said to not be well informed or assertive. I just said that being nice to people makes them want to help you more, which is a tough point to dispute.
I wasn't even referring to any particular person's birth plan. I was speaking generally about some of the ones I've seen on the Bump that honestly come across as a bit commonsensical and condescending.
I didn't read all of the responses but I also heard that when they cut they cut skin and muscle and when you tear the muscle doesn't really tear.
I lost my angels 07/2010, 04/2017, 10/2017
Meimsx no more
Like telling a bunch of grown women that being polite gets you better service?
I mean, I'm after an intact perineum, not a seat upgrade on my next flight. I don't really care if I come across a smidge pushy on the subject.
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But that's exactly what I am saying, LOL. Being polite DOES get you better service. For some reason people want to keep arguing with me that I'm wrong about that.
FWIW, that line in your birth plan makes complete sense to me. As does 90% of what is written there. I think those are valuable things to add. I have no problem with birth plans, it's the excessive extra points that I think are silly.
You're being condescending by telling us that being polite gets you better service. We know that. But advocating towards your health has nothing to do with not being polite, it's not mutually exclusive.
The problem is the being polite might win you friends and a bonus popsicle... or it might get you steamrolled into decisions that aren't really what you want. That happens in hospitals a hundred times a day, and pretending otherwise is just naive. You keep acting like that's just not a possibility, and that if you're nice, everyone will cater to you with a smile on their face.
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I said something about this in UO but I'm going to say it again.
I find it very interesting that in a discussion about birth plans and patient advocacy, anyone felt the need to come in and say "be nice to people" in the first place. Why does that even factor into a discussion of women advocating for their needs? Is it because we see a woman standing up for herself, we view her more negatively than if it were a man in the same situation?
And why do women feel the need to slam other women for their "overly complex, color-coded birth plans" (which I have yet to see any actual examples of), instead of directing our anger to a system that makes women feel like they need birth plans in the first place and puts women and babies in danger through inappropriate over-use of medical procedures for healthy pregnancies?
Yep.
What I read about tearing vs. cutting is that you can compare it to a piece of paper. If you rip the paper and then try to fit it back together the fibers will go back nicely, some might even start sticking to each other without tape. If you cut the paper and try to fit it back together you will have a much harder time getting the paper back together.
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I'm suddenly curious to hear one very specific birth story from this board.
Well Lisa, at least now we know the real reasons we had c/s. It's because we had detailed birth plans and we didn't smile enough. In fact, I bet our charts say that in invisible ink that only doctors and nurses can read.