Birth plan?

[Lilelephant]

So went round to see my best friend tonight!
She asked me to be her maid of honour am so excited he he!
But she has had two kids and she was asking if I had done my birth plan, which I haven't as I have no idea what I have to include! She is gonna come round next weekend to help me and so we can chat about labour etc as the men were there tonight looking a bit scared!
So my question is has anyone done a birth plan? Is there a specific way to write it? Do u put it in ur notes or take it seperate? Do you go thru it with ur midwife at any point?

 

[Princess81]

I haven't really thought about mine too much. There's a section in my maternity notes for me to write it out. My midwife kinda pointed it out at the start, but said we'd discuss it later on, I'm thinknig after 30 weeks she'll bring it up x

 

[Georgie0]

I have done mine - nothing too rigid as i wanted to leave alot of room for flexibility. Just includes who my birth partner is (Mum), that she is going to cut the cord, i want a managed 3rd stage and i don't want an epidural. MW quickly ran through it, told me that i was obviously very easy going and to jot down anything i specifically wanted in the section in my notes.

 

[Bunnykins]

Just try Google birthplan templates, there is a good one on the nhs website, we've just printed that out and filled it in then put it in my green notes folder, tried to discuss with my mw as there was questions I didn't understand but she wasn't interested and told me to ask in my nct classes, which I did and it was quite good as it prompted some good discussions as I didn't know about the 3rd stage options etc.
I've found having a birthplan useful tbh as I'm doing the hypnobirthing so my oh needs to be able to speak on my behalf for some things so it really helped us both to be on the same page about what sort of a labour we'd like if all goes to plan obv!!!

 

[meggymum]

i found a really good one on the cow and gate website, just printed it off, answered questions and bingo, birth plan done

 

[Lilelephant]

Thanks guys xxx

 

[Bella2]

I asked my midwife about this as I didn't have a clue where to start but she said you don't have to write one, after all often you have no idea what pain relief you'll need until you're actually in labour anyway. She said women tend to write them if they're dead against having something ie, an epidural but they're not compulsary x x x

 

[Smithy1980]

I've used the nhs one xx


Sent from my nearly buggared iPhone!!

 

[Monkey]

My midwife told me something similar, she also said that there are less people doing them these days. They (midwives, hospital staff, etc) are worried that some people expect to follow the plan and get really upset if something happens and they need to deviate from it.

I don't know if I will do one, mine is pretty simple. Let me move around if possible, give me an epidural as soon as I'm allowed one, only allow my OH in during actual delivery stage and unless they want a male passing out, wipe her down before handing her to us. To be honest, I'm too scared of the whole thing to think about all the small details till they occur

 

[suzzi]

im not doing one ill just go with the flow x obviously OH will be with me but as far as pain relief goes im going as natural as i can, as with ds i had epidural and it was awful, with dd just had shot of pethodine which slowed her heart rate down rapidly and all hell broke lose x so im hoping not to have anything but hey ho you never know i might be screaming for everything when the moment arrives so im not ruling anything out x

my MW not mentioned it to me either yet x

 

[AugustMum]

I did one and my midwife at the birth didn't even acknowledge it. She was crap though and I've heard of others that have discussed it with them. I think it's nice to have but don't expect to follow it and you won't be disappointed, just happy if it goes to plan

 

[NinjaKitty]

I'm gonna do a very loose one. More sort of preferences rather than a rigid plan if you like. Also I don't think firing it out cannon style would go down well

 

[littlemiss83]

I'm not having one with this pregnancy & didn't with 1st either. I had firm ideas of what I wanted/didn't want, but unfortunately because my labour didn't go to plan everything went out the window. They ask you when you first go into labour what you want/dont want. So a birth plan isn't really necessary. I have firm ideas this time too what I want/dont want and OH is aware of these too, so he can tell MW. Even if you did have a birth plan, they would still ask these questions anyway, just to confirm.

I think the whole exercise of a birth plan is so mum to be has a chance to sit & really think about what they want, so they have clear ideas. Even jotting a few things on a slip of paper & sticking it in your labour back would be sufficient.

I've heard stories where ppl have put alot of time & effort into a birth plan, and it has led to dissapointment & anxiety during labour when it doesn't work that way.

 

[EmmBee123]

Put a lot into mine, but all things that are important to me. My mw mentioned writing one at my 28 week appointment, we went through it at the 34 week appointment.

My big things are

No students to be present
Natural 3rd stage with delayed cord clamping, cord to be cut by OH
To be as active as possible so no continuous monitoring
Baby to be with either parent and not taken away from us
Oral vitamin k only for baby

Have made a statement at the end that we realise it is all subject to change and if medical circumstances allow.

 

[tinytoes]

Just be prepared for it too go wrong my labour was so quick nothing I wanted to happen really did . But I was able to tell them what I did and didnt want because I was informed . For example baby straight onto my chest , skin on skin , daddy to give first bottle and to dress baby for the first time . Deliever placenta naturally( didnt happen) . But it was nice to be make sure I was informed . Butt remember its only a guideline and not everything will be possible so dont be upset if it doesnt work out xxx