Birth Plans--Did you or do you have one?

Hyaline · July 2012

I've been writing down my thoughts on what I want my labor and delivery to be like--mostly as a declaration to myself! (It's actually really empowering!)

My plan is to share it with my midwife to discuss any concerns she has with it/anything that's not standard practice for her, and share it with my husband so that we're on the same page, but I'm not sure it will go anywhere beyond that.

Did you use a birth plan, or do you plan to? If so, was/is it just between you and your practitioner, or did you/will you share it with hospital staff? How does that work (ie, does anyone really read those things lol)? Or did you just deal with issues as they arose?

Just curious how best to share my intentions! Thanks!

runrinserepeat · July 2012

We wrote one up, which was a good opportunity for us to discuss all of the important topics. I never discussed it with my OB, just asked her questions as I had them regarding hospital policy and what I'd be able to do. In the heat of the moment, we forgot the birth plan on the way to the hospital, so we got by without it. DH and I have no problem standing up for ourselves, though. The nurses were very clear about our wishes.

bornmommy · July 2012

I wrote a plan. I had three copies. One, I gave to my midwife, one I put in my hospital bag and the other was meant to go on the door of my birth room.

My midwife glanced through it with me and made notes. The one in birth bag never came out and the one that was supposed to go on the door never got there. My midwife took care of everything and, unlike any birth I've ever heard, my birth went through exactly as planned.

The reason I wrote a plan in the first place was to make sure everyone that would be with me during my labor. Granted, I knew that 1. Not everyone reads them and 2. Issues during labor are always dealt with as they come up. So really, I think you write a plan for yourself and your peace of mind in the end. If you do write one, definitely include your provider in your plans.

perplexed59 · July 2012

I did not have a birth plan. I spoke to my midwives about what I wanted. I was having a home birth so I felt like I didn't need to much of a plan because I was already getting everything I wanted. If I needed to have anything outside of the norm it was because there was a complication and I don't think a birth plan would help at that point.

I also wanted to keep everything open so I didn't have a set idea of how my birth would go. Yes I knew what I wanted but I didn't want to have it so set in stone that I would be looking at myself as a failure if things didn't go the way I had picture it. I'm a go with the flow kind of person though. I did have a lot of issues arise that I just dealt with in the moment. These issues wouldn't of been in my birth plan because they were so far fetched it would be funny to even imagined the situation happening, but then it did.

zaramarie81 · July 2012

I didn't initially think I wanted a birth plan... I just wanted to go in and have the hospital take care of me! I think it was just fear on my part... like I was afraid I would overthink labor or that TMI would set me up for disappointment if it didn't go as I envisioned. But after getting a doula and doing some more reading, I too am starting to feel empowered by writing up a birth plan. As with any major event (or medical situation), I am realizing there are a lot of decisions that need to be made and many factors come into play, including the preferences of Mom and Dad!

I don't want to blindly hand over all the decisions to hospital staff I've mostly never met. So yeah, Dh and I are now going to officially write our thoughts down and our doula will edit/type it up in "hospital speak."

MamaP19 · July 2012

I think needing one really depends on who will be with you during the birth and how supportive your practitioner and the hospital are of natural births. I decided to make one and shared it with my DH and doula, OB, and the nurses at the hospital. There were quite a few things I don't want done that are common practice at a hospital so it was reassuring for me. However, my DH was very well informed so I am confident that even without the birth plan things would be fine.

drpayne · July 2012

I didnt write one. My midwives went over my wishes with me but most of my choices were pretty standard for them (delayed cord clamping, immediate skin to skin, etc). I was transferred to the hospital (failure to descend) and still felt like they respected my wishes when they could ("natural birth" went out he window when I needed an epi to rest since i was exgausted and severly dehydrated). Two midwives went with me and my husband spoke upfor me, too. When they wanted to take DS for a bath and to the nursery, I said no. No one made a big deal of it.

meganroselee · July 2012

No birth plan here. I made sure that each of the four CNMs in the group knew that I didn't want an epidural, no circ if it was a boy and breastfeeding only. Told hubby not to leave the baby's side. We got all of the above. I work in healthcare and know how busy things can get, keeping things simple and verbal work best for me.

tokenhoser · July 2012

I wrote one and discussed it with my doctor, doula, and DH.

I don't actually remember if the nurse saw it. I arrived 10 cm dilated and it didn't really matter if she knew what I wanted. She just needed to do her job and stay out of my way. She did. My doctor knew what I wanted, and my doula reminded her (things like delayed cord clamping). There was no real laundry list of demands for anyone else.

Writing things out made it clear in my head, so that I could then express my wishes to those around me.

nosoup4u · July 2012

Go through your list at an appointment with your MW. She'll be able to tell you what things are standard or not at the hospitl. I was asked about my preferences when I was admitted during both my labors, tho I had a birth plan both times. Make sure to keep the final one short- I was able to remember all my points, even tho I didn't have a copy on hand during my first labor.

erb82 · July 2012

I didn't have one, and didn't feel it was necessary for me. I brought up concerns/questions at each OB appointment, made sure I knew what the hospital's policies were, and had a strong advocate (DH) at the birth. I also pride myself on being someone who's assertive when something's important to me and able to let things go when it's not essential and knowing which is which, so I was confident in my ability to communicate my wishes and decisions to the nurses at the time.

chris&kendra1 · July 2012

I did write up a formal plan that we can take with us when we go to the hospital, just so the nurses are aware of some of our "key points". My midwife will also have one.

Still free to be me · July 2012

I wrote a birth plan, with sections for my dr and nurses, my DH, and my friend/support person/photographer. I discussed everything with my Dr., DH, and friend. DH's section gave him hints and tips for helping me relax. My friend's section talked about what type of advocacy I would appreciate from her (since DH was totally uneducated about natural childbirth-which was fine with me...not his forte.)

I arrived at the hospital with my five copies of my birth plan, but things happened so fast that we didn't even pull them out of the bag. However, DH did follow his part of the birth plan and was in the process of bringing things up from the truck and setting up the ipod while I started pushing! DH didn't realize that it was so close. I managed labor really well-maybe too well!- using the hypnobirthing techniques I had practiced. My Dr. didn't make it to the hospital, so the hours we sat together discussing labor, etc. were a moot point...My friend helped advocate for some of the things that were important to me and the things that didn't happen according to the plan apparently weren't that important.

It all worked out just fine, though...

annabelle.27 · July 2012

I did with my first, hospital birth with a dr- but they never really read it, as far as I'm aware, and if they did read it they certainly didn't follow it. I didn't bother with my second, but then I had a midwife and a homebirth and virtually everything I wanted was their standard practice. The few things that were outside of their standard we just discussed during prenatal appointments and they made notations on my file.

Rosebud2587 · July 2012

Nope. I told the nurses that I wanted a med free birth and that was the end of it. I didn't want a strict birth plan because I know that a lot can happen in labor and plans can change. They sure did for me. I got my med free birth but it was not intervention free. DD had a very weak heart rate so they inserted an internal monitor. While pushing they lost her on the monitor completely so it was either use the vacuum to get her out faster or have a c/s. I opted for the vacuum. After she was born she was rushed strait to the NICU and it was 2 hrs before I got to see/hold her. Not exactly the post birth experience I had in mind but my daughter is alive and that's what counts.

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