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Natural Birth
SallySunrise
member
Critique my natural birth plan, please! (xp July'12)
SallySunrise
member
I'm going to copy/paste, so please excuse the probable messed up format. It's only one page when printed, but it will probably look a lot longer on here. I chose to write in sentences as opposed to short bullet points because I found with the bullet points I ended up using a lot more "negative" language (such as NO this, NO that, DO NOT do this, etc.), and have heard that birth plans are much more well received by hospital staff when they are written with "positive" language (such as "please allow" and "we prefer"). What do you ladies think? Have I left out anything important?
Birth Plan for SallySunrise
EDD: July 20, 2012
Physician: Dr. Blah, D.O.
Support Persons: Wes Blah (husband), Ashley Blah (doula)
Labor
? Please assign a nurse who is supportive of natural, un-medicated birth.
? I would like Wes and Ashley to be present at all times.
? Please allow saline lock for mobility, and allow mother to drink fluids/ice chips.
? Please support and encourage a quiet, calm environment with dimmed lighting.
? Please allow mobility (walking, variety of positions throughout labor, use of birthing ball, use of shower, etc.) with telemetry monitor/intermittent monitoring.
? Absolutely NO narcotic pain meds through IV or otherwise.
? Please do not suggest or offer pain medication (including epidural) at any time during labor.
? Please do not rush the labor process with time limits.
? NO Pitocin or other augmentation unless deemed medically necessary by Dr. Blah.
? In the event that Pitocin is deemed necessary, please begin with a very small dose.
Delivery
? Please allow mother to deliver in a position she chooses.
? If mother?s chosen birthing position allows, please provide mirror to view progress.
? Please massage and/or apply a warm compress to the perineum until crowning. Please guard the perineum as much as possible during the birth to avoid tearing.
? Tearing is preferred over an episiotomy.
? Unless augmentation is medically necessary for mother?s safety, please allow natural delivery of the placenta.
Baby
? Please allow immediate skin-to-skin contact with my baby on my chest.
? Please do not clamp the cord immediately; allow its natural pulse to continue to baby.
? Please allow Wes to cut the cord, after it stops naturally pulsating.
? Please delay routine care of baby until she has had skin-to-skin contact with mother and attempted nursing at least once.
? Mother and/or Father would like to be present for all newborn procedures.
? We would like our baby to room-in with us.
? Please do not offer formula or pacifier.
C-Section
? Please allow Wes to be present at all times as allowed by hospital policy.
? Please leave mother?s arms free to touch baby immediately after the birth.
? Please discuss all pain medications before administering them.
? Please narrate/explain surgery to mother and father as it happens.
? Please allow mother to nurse ASAP after surgery.
? Please allow father to accompany baby after surgery.
? Please allow baby to return to mother ASAP and room-in during recovery.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Critique my natural birth plan, please! (xp July'12)
You should requst that you be allowed to eat and drink, don't say you only wany ice chips.
Also, take of the part about telemetry. Continuous fetal monitoring in normal spontaneous labors is not associated with better outcomes. You probably just want intermittent fetal monitoring (every 15 min)
I would also remove the 2 points about pitocin, they are kind of repetitive.
Say you would prefer your labor to not be augmented with pitocin and leave it at that. If your labor is stalling (not a medical emergency), do you want to have your water broken and pitocin given, or do you want to go home for a few hours?
make sure your doctor is okay with you delivering in a non traditional position. My OB has told me she will let me labor in any position I like, even start pushing, but for actual delivery I need to be on my back.
I guess, in general, have your doctor look over this as well, but I don't see anything (besides PP's comments) that jumps out at me
Put ice chips land hep-lock on 2 different lines. They are not related. I agree with PP about putting in food, but in all reality you can just do what you want. Most OBs won't agree to more than what you've put in, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
The line that mentions Pit is similar to the line above. Combine them. Also, I'm not sure who would order pit other than your dr, so the line may not be necessary.
Do you really want them to massage the perineum no matter what or just if you look like you will risk tearing?
You probably already know this,but you need to make sure that your Dr agrees to all of this ahead of time. If he doesn't agree, know what you will refuse vs. consent to. For the things you will still insist on, be mentally prepared that having it on paper won't take the place of you putting up the fight verbally.
Grammatically, you alternate between first person, third person with names and third person with pronouns . Pick one and stick with it.
More Green For Less Green
I don't know what kind of hospital you're delivering in or how supportive your OB will be, however; I found this the birth plan as a whole to be a little intense and demanding.
I see that you put please in front of everything but that doesn't change the reality that what follows is a demand and not a request. Please do this, please do that, and please do them all immediately!
Unless your hospital is very anti-nautral, I suggest that you try to reword things to be a polite request while still expressing your intent and desire.
I.E.
"Please allow mobility (walking, variety of positions throughout labor, use of birthing ball, use of shower, etc.) with telemetry monitor/intermittent monitoring."
could be
"To increase the mothers comfort we request that she be able to move freely and use any labor aids (birthing ball, shower, etc.) available. We also ask that monitoring be intermittent in order to facilitate the mothers desire to move around."
I might be a bit too gentle compared to what is needed for your birthing environment. I was at a hospital that mailed me a birth plan and ask me to choose which things I wanted to have included and informed me that they do skin-to-skin for the first hour as a standard procedure. My personal birth plan was just a reiteration of the information I provided during my pre-registration and to have a copy in the labor/delivery room.
Stop saying please so much. Say it once: "Please help us achieve a safe, successful birth" or some such blah blah blah. Then make your birth plan clear, concise, and in point form. I totally disagree with pp's suggestion to explain your requests. Explain them in person. Write with clarity.
e.g.
Labor
? Please assign a nurse who is supportive of natural, un-medicated birth.
? I prefer:
Wes and Ashley to be present at all times
saline lock for mobility
to eat and drink as I wish
a quiet environment with dim lighting
mobility (walking, changing positions, showering)
intermittent monitoring
Please do not suggest narcotics or other drugs. We will ask if they are desired.
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Wow, thank you ladies for all the feedback and suggestions! The emotional/hormonal side of me feels a little sad and stupid after reading how many changes y'all think I need to make, but the logical side is glad I asked so that I can do so.
All of this. And as another PP said, quit switching between the first and third person.
Your plan is great - it's just tweaking the presentation. That's all.
The most important part for me was actually talking to my doctor in advance - I didn't spend much of my labour at the hospital, so a lot of things I wrote didn't really matter in the end.
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