Birth Plans

[KrisM]

Did you have one? And if so, did it get forwarded to the hospital? I made one and have gone through it with 1 of the 2 OBs. I have some modifications to make and will go through it with both OBs. I am thinking that I will make a different version for the hospital though. Something that just includes things like - we're doing Hypnobabies, dim lights, no drugs, etc. and leave out the "medical" parts, since the OBs have already agreed to those and it is the OBs that would be there for that part. I would bring the full version with me, but just not have it in my medical file.

What do you think? Part of my reason for doing it this way is that the "nurse from hell" in DS's birth gave me a bad feeling about them. The very first thing she said to us, after her name, was "I see you have a birth plan. I don't read them because I find births never go according to plan." Fine, they don't and mine didn't, but how disrespectful!

[american_mama]

I had a one page birth plan for DD1, which I wrote as a letter to the hospital staff. I don't recall going over it with the midwives previously; I just handed it to my labor nurse at the hospital. If I were you, I would not rely on the OB's forwarding it to the hospital and I would have a copy packed in my labor bag with DH drilled in advance to get it out once you arrive at the hospital.

The two nurses who cared for me both read it very respectfully, and one even commented on what a nice plan it was. (Sounds dumb writing it here, but the compliment was very meaningful to me). I tried very hard to make it pleasant and personal, not a litany of "not this, no that." I also included some of what I DID want (like position changes, using a birthing ball), which I think puts both the preparation and the labor itself on a more positive note.

[brittone2]

First, I have to say that I cannot believe a nurse had the gall to say that to you!! ICK!!! What a moron.

We did a birthplan and our midwives had it in our file that got forwarded to the hospital. Our doula had a copy or two, and we also gave one to the staff (I think??) when we got there. Everyone was very respectful of it and we didn't have any problems that I can remember (other than being asked several times if we were circ'ing, which we were not, as all of our paperwork clearly stated, and DS ended up being on the "list" anyway...but I digress). My midwives were very cool but one of them (the one that delivered DS actually) basically laughed at my comments about the fact that we'd like to avoid the whole counting/holding the breath/forced pushing type of situation and wanted to use a more Hypnobirthing approach to that part of labor. She sort of scoffed about that. She was great, but I will say that during labor she and the nurse ended up counting and having me do the whole forced pushing thing which made it hard to concentrate on my Hypnobirthing. That's the only time I lost focus during the whole labor and I think that was part of it.

I'd probably just give everyone the same copy, but maybe that's because the hospital we delivered at was fairly accustomed to getting birthplans from less-traditional moms because they had a practice of 3 midwives that delivered there. I'm not sure what I would do in your case, other than avoid the nurse from hell this time like the plague. What a witch. I wish you a happy, easy labor and you should take pictures to show her how peaceful it all was ;)

[muskiesusan]

I had one and I had the midwives and backup ob sign it so knew we were all on the same page. It was forwarded to the hospital, but I had an extra copy in case it wasn't.

If you get a nurse like that again, ask to be assigned a new nurse. I can't believe she said that to you!


Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[tarahsolazy]

If you get a similar response from another nurse, tell her you need to see the charge nurse, that she's being disrespectful. Tell the charge nurse she's disrespectful and you refuse to be in her care, and if the charge nurse isn't apolgetic enough, ask to see the nursing supervisor for the entire hospital. (Perhaps not while in labor, but you get my meaning). You shouldn't have to be exposed to negative people during labor, if at all avoidable. There are plenty of nurses out there.

Take your plan, make sure everyone gets it.

[nfowife]

After my ob read it and agreed, he put it in my file and it was forwarded to the hospital so it was there when I arrived in labor. My nurses read and were very respectful about following it. I can't believe that nurse said that to you!

[aliceinwonderland]

Nope. Had some general things that I wanted done/not done, but other than that, no, just wanted to have the kid. But we're weird, I never took a birthing class either. :)

[pb&j]

Same here - no written birth plan, no childbirth classes. My birth plan consisted of "I want a healthy baby, and I'd prefer to be conscious." I got both. ;)


-Ry,
mom to Emma, stillborn 11/04/04
and Max, 01/05/06

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[MommyAllison]

We had a birth plan (used birthplan.com to make it) but for some reason I never thought to take a copy to my OB. I will definitely next time though! We gave it to our nurse at the hospital and she was great about following it, though my labor progressed so quickly that we didn't need much of a birth plan (pitocin was never suggested anyway, my water broke at home, etc). That nurse sounds horrible! What a way to start your hospital stay. :(

Allison
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[wagner36]

Our midwives suggest that the version we bring to the hospital should be bullet pointed, with keywords in bold. The shorter, the better.

[Sillygirl]

>Our midwives suggest that the version we bring to the
>hospital should be bullet pointed, with keywords in bold. The
>shorter, the better.

Lord, yes. I don't deliver babies but I do admit patients to the hospital all the time. Every now and then someone comes in with twenty pages of closely typed paragraphs and hands it over to me. I know they're trying to be organized and helpful but I truly don't have the time to wade through that. Keep it one page, keep it simple.

[ribbit1019]

I had a birth plan for both our births.
We had a copy, the hospital had a copy, baby's file had a copy and my midwives had a copy. This time I made sure to mention it to my nurse post partum so that she would read it. Both nurses that I had while I was there read it and had a couple of questions. But it was respected generally.

Christy
Maddy born 6/9/04
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Jarred born 3/8/06
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Co-Owner Ribbit Baby

Frogs are lucky, they eat what bugs them.

[mum1day]

I have a birth plan and the midwives have a copy sent to the hospital prior to our birth and I believe it's in my folder. I wasn't specific about many things on there, because my DH and our Doula are in charge of getting things the way I want them. I just can't depend on the grumpy nurses who might end their shift 1 hour into my labour. KWIM?

[mudder17]

We didn't have a birth plan either. I briefly discussed it with my OB but he basically said that while you can have preferences, things can change at the last minute and that you have to be open to it. Honestly, I thought about it and decided I wanted a healthy kid to take home and I wanted to be able to take her home. We got both and while our L&D experience may not have been 100% ideal (we had an induction plus I had to use an epi for my back labor), it was an experience I remember positively (even immediately afterwards) and I was glad for his flexibility (and ours).


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah
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Kaya's a cousin! 10/1/05, 5lb13oz

[KrisM]

Yes, she was horrible! Had things not started to go wrong at that point, we would have requested another nurse for the duration. We're at a different hospital this time, so avoiding her should be easy.

Everyone else was on board with the birth plan, it seemed. Maybe I'll call the hospital and ask what they think of birth plans.

I can't believe your midwife worked against you with the pushing. That's terrible, I think.

[KrisM]

We would have changed nurses, if things hadn't been going wrong at that point. We only had to deal with her for a couple of hours and the midwife and OB were there the whole time, so it wasn't a huge deal in the end. But, it would have been if I hadn't needed the c/s.

She also didn't want to believe me that the spinal didn't fully work. Boy was she surprised when, in recovery, I lifted myself off the table with my legs so that she could change a pad underneath me. Nice.

[KrisM]

Of course a healthy kid is #1. I should probably call it birth "preferences" rather than "plan". Mostly, I just want people to know to leave me alone, since they might not be familiar with Hypnobabies.

With DS, lots of things didn't go as planned, but I am pretty happy with the results and I think a lot of that is because I had a written plan and people knew what I wanted. The midwife and OB were very much trying to avoid the c/s and really respected us, I think.

[jbowman]

I created birth plans for both of my deliveries. I went to the hospital and worked out my preferences/ideas there with "the birth plan coordinator" at the hospital. It took about 45 minutes. The plan was then at the hospital and on file--I didn't have to do anything else. Everyone respected my wishes. I'm really glad that I did it!

[Eloise36]

I had a birth plan for DS' birth. I brought a copy to the hospital in addition to sharing it with my OB. We lucked out in our nurse - she was our Lamaze teacher and knew many of our preferences anyway. The birth went according to plan except for two things. I got administered pitocin, which on hindsight was unneeded because I ended up progressing so fast, and also got an episiotomy right before DS came out. I am not complaining though, I had a relatively fast and smooth labor and delivery, and a healthy baby to take home.

I am so glad you are using a different hospital this time and can avoid that nurse. What an awful nurse! You surely did not need that in addition to dealing with labor. I hope you have a much better experience this time around.

[mudder17]

Okay, that makes a lot of sense. Well, I get the feeling that with birth #2, things may be different for us anyway, since we're planning on getting a doula for future births and now you (and the others here) have me intrigued enough to consider hypnobirthing.


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif

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Kaya's a cousin! 10/1/05, 5lb13oz

[Katigre]

I have a one page birth plan that is identical for mymidwives and for the hospital. Remember that your OB will most likely not be at the hospital until you're pushing the baby out, it will be the nurses who are handling much of your care (in phone consultation with the OB) so i would include all the medical info on both.

I had one OB from my practice sign my birth plan, then had them put a copy in my chart, sent one over to the hospital with my preregistration form, and have several more copies with me to bring when we go. (This is what my midwife advised me to do).

[squimp]

I had a birth plan, but I think it was more for my benefit than for the hospital. Writing a short simple plan forced me to think about what I really wanted, and what was optional. I brought it with me, and asked the nurse to read it that night. I didn't expect them to have it sent over. My DH was in large part my birth plan - he knew what I wanted and what I didn't, and is strong enough to yell at someone if we weren't treated respectfully. Luckily our nurse was solid and respectful. The doctor spent about 20 minutes with me during the pushing stage - in an easy birth you spend a lot more time with the nurse than the doc. I think that they were in awe of me for being so calm during the whole thing. Hope your birth goes well, and that you don't get a nurse from h%ll!