- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Natural Birth
choppinbroccoli22
member
Options
Comments on my birth plan? (long!!)
choppinbroccoli22
member
Thanks for reading! What can I say, I know it's a long way off, but I'm a Virgo.
The setting: I plan to give birth at a Birthing Center, which is on a hospital campus. They are not allowed to administer any medication, so I would be transferred to the hospital if necessary. That's why my plan is written for either setting. Much of this is obviously informed by my previous birth experience. I also included a brief labor history because I know this goes right on the front page of the chart, and I probably will not have met my midwife before. (The one I see is on call 1 night per week!)
I'm looking for help being concise. What information is superfluous? It's two pages long, which is the same as last time. I know it gets wordy in places where I'm being very specific.
BIRTH PLAN
Name: xxxxx
Birth History:
-1/14/2011 Vaginal birth at hospital under care of midwives.
-Labor length: 44 hours, with 1 hour of pushing.
-Labor started with water ?piercing? (confirmed by microscope).
-At 24 hrs +, not yet in strong labor pattern. Bag was re-broken. This stalled my labor.
-Pitocin initiated.
-Nubain administered at my request at 7 cm.
-Uncomplicated delivery. No tearing or episiotomy. Apgar score of 8 (color, loudness of cry).
ATTENDANTS
I'd like only the following people to be present during labor and birth:
1. Husband: xxxxx
2. Midwife and nurses
ADMISSION & PROCEDURES
I'd like the option of returning home if I'm not in active labor.
Once I'm admitted, I'd like:
-My husband to be allowed to stay with me at all times
-To eat if I wish to
-To try to stay hydrated by drinking clear fluids instead of having an IV
-NOT to have a heparin or saline lock
-To walk and move around as I choose
OTHER INTERVENTIONS
As long as the baby and I are doing fine, I'd like:
-To have intermittent rather than continuous electronic fetal monitoring
-To be allowed to progress free of time limits.
-To use any natural method of labor augmentation available as needed.
I do not wish to have my labor artificially augmented.
However, IF my water has been broken for over 24 hours, AND I am only given the choice between either antibiotics or transfer to hospital for pitocin, I will probably choose the pitocin. I want my baby to receive the full benefit of passing through the birth canal, receiving all the good flora that nature has put there for the baby to help him thrive.
If pitocin is used, please start on the lowest possible dose and always discuss it with my husband if the levels need to be increased.
LABOR PROPS
If available, I'd like to try a: squatting bar, exercise ball, birthing stool
PAIN RELIEF
Please don't offer me pain medication. I'll request it if I need it.
I'd like to try the following pain-management techniques:
-partner-supported labor positions
-manual pressure from partner; massage
-bath/shower
-breathing techniques/distraction/visualization
-hot/cold therapy
PUSHING
When it's time to push, I'd like to:
-be coached by my midwife AND husband.
-not be discouraged from vocalizing.
-be allowed to push in whatever position I choose....
-Please help encourage me to find any position other than on my back.
-I am very open to a water birth.
VAGINAL BIRTH
During delivery, I'd like:
-to touch my baby's head as it crowns
After birth, I'd like:
-not to get prophylactic oxytocin (Pitocin) after I deliver the placenta
-to wait until the umbilical cord stops pulsating before it's clamped and cut
-please ask my husband if he wants to cut the cord or not when it is time.
POSTPARTUM
After delivery, I'd like:
-my husband to stay with the baby if she cannot be in my presence during newborn procedures
-our baby to stay with us instead of in nursery
-NO HEP-B VACCINE administered to our baby at this time
-Exclusively breastfeeding! No rubber nipples or pacifiers at any time, please.
-I?d like to offer the baby a chance to breastfeed prior to inviting visitors into the room.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Comments on my birth plan? (long!!)
It's wordier than I would do, you should probably try to eliminate some of it.
I think you could remove the entire section on Pain Relief except to say that you do not want to be offered pain meds. I would also get rid of the 'attendants' section unless you really think people are going to be barging in. I would also eliminate "Please encourage me to not push on my back." Saying "let me push in whatever position I choose" should be enough. Besides some women, myself included actually prefer pushing on their backs (although next time it might be different), but I felt that I was really making good progress on my back and could rest well between pushes. So you never know, and I think the last thing I would want would be someone telling me to switch positions if that's the way I felt comfortable.
I think you are on the right track, just make it shorter if possible.
Thank you... I'll re-work that stuff.
I delivered on my back with my first, because I had a narcotic that had me drifting away between pushes. I just remember having some uncomfortable side-effects for weeks from the distension I experienced. My husband said it looked like her head was trying to come out the wrong hole for a while. I just wonder if being on my back did that to me. If I can manage a natural birth this time, I hope I can get off my back! But you're right. Especially since my husband knows this, I probably don't need to repeat this.
It's nice that you have this experience to guide you with future births. I started out pushing on my hands and knees, next time I know that position is not for me! After a few pushes my L & D nurse said it looked like I was putting a lot of energy into pushing into my arms and not my bottom. Boy was she right! That next day my arms were killing me and that was only after a few pushes, I can't imagine how I would have felt had I tried to push for an hour like that. Not saying I'm married to pushing on my back next time, but probably won't try all fours again! There is something comforting about preparing for round two, more experience I guess!
Wow!
That was the other thing! On my back, I had to be coached very aggressively by my husband to keep my head to my chest (my midwife was too much of a lightweight to bark orders the way I needed them!), which really strained my neck muscles for a while! I think I need to practice maintaining positions for a while... something something prenatal yoga...procrastinating... ;-)
I noticed this too! My husband is a Virgo, so I totally understand why you are writing this so early
I like it! I didn't have a birth plan for my first birth, but will have one this time. It seems like you've hit all of the important points, but I might try abbreviating the way things are stated. Writing it more like an outline might help shorten the length, but hopefully keep all the content.
As far as wordiness, I would delete the following: I want my baby to receive the full benefit of passing through the birth canal, receiving all the good flora that nature has put there for the baby to help him thrive.
It's more of a commentary than a necessary part of your birth plan. Plus I think it's obvious that you want to avoid a c/s if possible.