Birth plan, do you recommend it ?

[babyfiorina1]

Just wondering if I need to write a birth plan. We are due in about 8 weeks time with our second baby. I never actually had one written out with our DD the first time. It is going to be a C section due to my previous C section with DD. Would you recommend it ? Thank you for sharing.

[AnnieW625]

The only things I can think of that might relate to a c-section birth plan would be:
a. want to immediately breast feed baby
b. delayed cord clamping

I only did a birth plan with the baby we lost and I did it very early on so I never did one with DD2 because I was being a tad superstitious I guess.

My DH knew what I wanted with both of my sucessful pregnancies, a med free birth as I am scared of needles. With DD1 I ended up with pitocin and the pitocin worked really quickly so I ended up having an epidural and I still only pushed for an hour. With DD2 I did not have any pitocin or an epidural, but did have an IV of nubane which really helped. Both of the hospitals I delivered at were very focused on breast feeding as soon after birth as possible.

[KrisM]

I had one for my C-section. It included:

- not having arms strapped down
- lowering the curtain so I could see the birth
- holding the baby immediately
- no eye ointment until later
- breast feeding in recovery
- a mirror so I could watch the entire birth

A big one was if there was any delay, they would tell DH as it was happening. With DS1, my epidural didn't take, so they had to call for someone to do a spinal. Poor DH was told he'd get changed and wait a couple minutes and it was nearly 25 minutes until anyone came for him and he was worried.

It also included things for after:
- out of bed asap
- catheter out at 12 hours or sooner
- pills not IV meds
- IV removed as soon as possible
- discharge at 24 hours

I was glad to have it. It gave us a starting point for discussion. It also gave my "you're not starting until the mirror is here" some legs to stand on!

[mikala]

I had one and recommend it. More than anything it was just a checklist I went through with my doctor and doula beforehand so we had a chance to discuss my preferences and make we had identified any conflicts before I was having contractions.

It covered my preferences on pain relief, desire to be mobile as long as I could, delayed cord clamping, episiotomy vs tearing, immediate skin to skin and breastfeeding before baby was cleaned up, eye drops and immediate vaccination preferences, rooming in, circumcision.

We also talked about the what if decisions if I needed an emergency Csection since I wasn't very familiar with the process.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I thought it was a very good exercise. It informed me of choices I didn't know I had and made me think through risks, benefits and options available. I learned a lot when writing mine. I wrote an ideal plan, a mom having issues like pre-e, induction, csection and hospital birth plan (ds2 was a birth center baby). You can never be too informed and empowered. Many things are easy enough to make happen even if not standard.

[bostonsmama]

I showed up with a birth plan, and I'm pretty sure one was filed with my pre-admissions paperwork, but I never remember anyone actually treating me as if they'd read the damn thing. At every turn I had to reitterate my choices with nurses, doctors and anesthesiologists. Thankfully, I brought along a doula, and my husband was well aware of my preferences. I still had to breathe through a grueling 20min session during TRANSITION and answer questions of the stupid anesthesiologist about how the risks of epidural were X, Y, Z and death...and that I was declining such measures, blah, blah, blah....please sign here. I wanted to punch him...or at least get him out of my face. It just drove me nuts that despite not wanting an IV, I still had to have a heplock (I tried so hard to refuse), plus a type and cross or type and screen...so I knew I was gettings poked anyways. And I didn't want continuous EFM, but I wound up on it twice during labor and for the entire pushing stage. It felt like a tournequet!

The hospital where I'm delivering this time has mandatory heplock and continuous EFM, but it's remote and waterproof, so theoretically I won't be attached to a bed...and I can get in the shower with it, get over a ball, squat on the floor, whatever. They also have straps to keep it on or a stocking that goes over your belly. I was thinking I'd really like the latter. B/c there are only 6 birthing rooms and 4-6 nurses plus 2 doctors on call at all times, I have a good feeling they'll actually read our birth plan and know my face/remember my preferences.

[TwoBees]

I recommend a birth "wish list" or "preference list." With DD, I had been considering a birth plan and obviously that all went out the window when they had to deliver via emergency C at 28 weeks. At that point, my health and the health of the baby were of utmost importance, nothing else mattered. So you have to be prepared to go with the flow in case of unforseen circumstances. That's why I say a "wish" or "preference" list because while it's nice to have those things, you still need to be flexible. Stressing myself out over not having every desire followed to a T would have put my health and DD's health in even more jeopardy.

[Suzan]

I will also be having a repeat c-section come January. I found a blog that is older but had good information about c-section birth plans. I found it while looking up gentle c-sections. My additions to what they have on theirs would be BF on table and skin to skin right away, delayed cord clamping if possible. Its worth a read. She also tells about her 5th C-Section. I thought it was a good read.

http://adventuresindiapering.blogspot.com/p/c-sections.html

[stinkyfeet]

I never had a birth plan--only "get the baby out safely". :) I did request an epidural though, but that was the extent of it. All three of my labors and deliveries were so different.

[babyfiorina1]

I will also be having a repeat c-section come January. I found a blog that is older but had good information about c-section birth plans. I found it while looking up gentle c-sections. My additions to what they have on theirs would be BF on table and skin to skin right away, delayed cord clamping if possible. Its worth a read. She also tells about her 5th C-Section. I thought it was a good read.

http://adventuresindiapering.blogspot.com/p/c-sections.html

Thank you. That really helps :)

[babyfiorina1]

Thank you all for sharing. I'm going to write one and share it with my OB next week during check-up. My arms were strapped down during C-section the first time and I did not like that. I was also a bit upset when they gave pacifier to DD at day one and of course I also never made it clear to the staffs that I did not want any. So, this time around, I want to make sure those do not happen. Since we do not know the gender of baby, I thought it's a good point to mention about the circumcision if it's a boy. I want to make sure they don't automatically circumcise without checking with us.