Did you have a birth plan?

saisongbird · January 2014

How detailed was it? Are they really necessary, so long as a) I'm basically ok with what the doctors recommend and don't have an issue with meds, and b) my hospital as a practice does rooming in and skin to skin/establishes BFing in the first hour? The only thing that I can think of that I want made known is that I don't want her supplemented with formula. But some women talk about their birth plans as if they're a page or more long, and have things on there that I have NEVER considered.

What did you do? What were things that you wanted/didn't want? Was a formally written out plan necessary?

DangerMuffin23 · January 2014

If I end up birthing in a hospital, I will have a written birth plan A, and birth plan B in case something goes awry. They recommend it not being more than a one sided page. It's more for the nurses, because your ob should know your plan, but they're only human. So, I'd say, don't stress over it. If there's certain things you really don't want to happen, write them down. If you're pretty hunky dory with whatever the doc says, then I'd say skip it. That's just me, and i haven't had a baby yet :-bd

bobcee · January 2014

I did make a birth plan when I had Delilah but never gave it to anyone as I found my normal birth center hospital practices were pretty much on par with what I wanted.

I will say though that making a birth plan was really helpful in making me research things and made me aware and more familiar with terms that I would not have known otherwise (ie episiotomies). I was glad to have that sort of knowledge ahead of time so that if it were to come up as an option/choice/necessity in the midst of labor I wouldn't be so caught off guard or freaked out about it and would be able to make an informed decision.

That being said mine stated that I wanted a med free birth and not to ask me about epidurals or pain management. That if I wanted something I would ask. It also stated that I'd like to be free to move around during labor so I wanted just a hep lock and not to have continuous monitoring on the baby. I wanted to be able to labor in the shower or tub. Since we were team green, I wanted DH to announce the sex. DH wanted to cut the cord. I wanted baby placed on my chest immediately and wanted to nurse. No formula or pacifiers were to be given. I wanted to be allowed to eat/drink during labor. And wanted to avoid an episiotomy and pitocin.

We labored/birthed/and stayed in the same room the entire time and baby never leaves the room so I didn't need to put anything about that in there.

But If you want delayed cord clamping or to donate cord blood it's good to restate it in there. Also if you want to delay the first bath, eye ointment, vitamin k shot, hep b shot, etc...

I'll have to pull it up to see if there was anything else, but I also did preface it by saying ideally this is what I would want, but realize that anything can happen and a healthy mom and baby are the most important.

sgautschi · January 2014

Madeline wrote everything I was going to. The nurses didn't do anything without either asking me or me asking them. I was very happy with my experience.

cinderin · January 2014

I did. Even though I had a planned c/s due to breech. My hospital also roomed in and was pro BF.

It listed some preferences and things important to me. I wanted to give DS his first bath so we delayed that. I only wanted me or dh to hold baby (other than medical staff). No dummies/pacis and no bottles. Skin to skin as soon as possible.

botanicalbliss · January 2014

I wrote a birth plan. It was a page long and had my wishes laid out from who was to be (and not be) in the room, my take on meds, what I wanted to happen post birth, etc. The big benefit of doing this was that I had to research all the options. I also did it so that if I couldn't speak for myself during birth, my wishes would be known. I don't think they are necessary, but if you feel strongly about certain things, it's nice to have it written down so that you don't have to repeat yourself at shift change, etc. The only problem I had with my plan was that they were so good at sticking to it that when I needed to change something they didn't listen to me. Things ended up not going according to plan, but you can never expect things to go perfectly.

Ultimately, I think the important thing about a birth plan is knowing your options.

MRads · January 2014

I didn't have a birth plan, but I was also absolutely terrified of L&D. My hospital already did skin to skin as a best practice, and in room stays. I just told them I wanted an epi ASAP and I was going to be BF.

For me, bc I was so terrified of L&D, not doing research was actually really helpful. The nurse just walked me through what to do at each step. I tackled every thing one step at a time without having to worry about what was coming next. I had never met the OB who delivered me, and even that was just fine. The way I did it isn't for everybody, but it worked for me.

saisongbird · January 2014

Thanks for the feedback. I have an appt Monday so I am going to ask my OB about some questions/concerns I have/things I've read about. I filled out the pre-registration paperwork last night and shit has started getting very really very quickly lately.

alexisanna44 · January 2014

I didn't have a plan with Lucy and I won't this time either. I'm not afraid to tell doctors no, and I did that to a point with Lucy. He said pitocin and I asked him to wait. He gave me an hour before we reevaluated. I figure it's my labor and I'll listen to recommendations, but if anyone gives me crap I'll go ape shit on them. I like to play l&d by ear so I'm not trying to meet anyone's expectations.

Did you have a birth plan?

Re: Did you have a birth plan?

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