birth plan help please ladies regarding BF

[missmayhem]

ok ladies i am currently drawing up my birth plan

and have put down

I wish to breastfed as soon as possible and would like some guidance then left to it, I will ask for help if I need it. NO formula is to be given without my consent



is this ok?? is their anything else i should add?

 

[patch2006uk]

Maybe mention you'd like immediate skin to skin if the situation allows? And don't let them force LO onto your breast. It just means that you can't latch them on yourself when you leave hospital. Better have them show you than do it for you!

 

[missmayhem]

brill thanks hun, i've stated the skin to skin

I wish for the baby to be placed straight on to my stomach for skin to skin, and left for as long as possible before being dried. I wish for my baby to be put into a cloth nappy and not a disposable.


would it also be wise for me to state the brand of formula i would like used in an emergancy??

i also have

"I do NOT want my baby to be given any formula without the consent of myself, or if I am unable Aaron, if applicable I would like to feed my baby via expressed breastmilk"


would it be possible to express a small amount of colostrum and take it in, i am able to hand express already, boobs get hard and sore some days and i can hand express 5-6 drops off......

 

[midori1999]

It's fine.

If you ask to have your baby put onto your chest for skin to skin and left there, they can actually 'crawl' to the breast and latch themselves on in many cases. If you look on You Tube for 'breast crawl' you will find some video clips.

I agree beware of midwives trying to 'force' baby onto your breast, for some reason they seem especially keen on this. Also, don't be afraid to change positions if you need to. I felt it was easier to latch my daughter on for the first time with her laying next to me, facing me.

Unless for some reason you are really out of it on pain relief, you should still be able to say what you want, so don't worry too much. I never got round to writing my birth plans except with my first baby and have always been able to say what I do and don't want.

 

[midori1999]

brill thanks hun, i've stated the skin to skin

I wish for the baby to be placed straight on to my stomach for skin to skin, and left for as long as possible before being dried. I wish for my baby to be put into a cloth nappy and not a disposable.


would it also be wise for me to state the brand of formula i would like used in an emergancy??

i also have

"I do NOT want my baby to be given any formula without the consent of myself, or if I am unable Aaron, if applicable I would like to feed my baby via expressed breastmilk"


would it be possible to express a small amount of colostrum and take it in, i am able to hand express already, boobs get hard and sore some days and i can hand express 5-6 drops off......

You can express colostrum into syringes from about 37 weeks, but there's probably no need. If you need to for any reason, you can express colostrum into a small cup or syringe after the birth. There's also the possibility of donor milk if you really wanted to avoid formula. The hospital cannot give formula unless you sign a form to say they can.

 

[missmayhem]

thanks ladies, i'm writing a birth plan as my consultant wants me on continuous monitoring and i disagree with this (she's never met me, and is following protocol based on what a few lines of paper say about me)

i'm very keen to have a natural birth, although i am aware and accept this may not be the case.

i am a bit of a control freak and want to ensure that they are aware of my wishes, as at the app yesterday the registrar was dismissing my idea of intermittent monitoring, belittling me and telling me i had no choice that it was being done.


i just want to be able to enjoy the birth knowing my wishes are in black and white, esp with breastfeeding as of late i've heard a few stories of MW etc pushing formula at every given chance, baby won't latch pass the SMA, baby is feeding often, pass the aptamil!

 

[patch2006uk]

My LO didn't latch on for the first 8 days, so we did end up giving him some formula. If I'd have known then what I know now, I'd have asked for a breastpump as soon as it was clear he was struggling (he had his mouth suctioned due to meconium, and I think he was put off opening his mouth ) I didn't have to sign anything to say he could have it, but they asked me first and took his blood sugar level so I knew it was definitely necessary. And ask for a BF consultant to come see you if you need them. Midwives are good, but some seriously lack BF knowledge!

 

[missmayhem]

brill thanks hun, i've stated the skin to skin

I wish for the baby to be placed straight on to my stomach for skin to skin, and left for as long as possible before being dried. I wish for my baby to be put into a cloth nappy and not a disposable.


would it also be wise for me to state the brand of formula i would like used in an emergancy??

i also have

"I do NOT want my baby to be given any formula without the consent of myself, or if I am unable Aaron, if applicable I would like to feed my baby via expressed breastmilk"


would it be possible to express a small amount of colostrum and take it in, i am able to hand express already, boobs get hard and sore some days and i can hand express 5-6 drops off......

You can express colostrum into syringes from about 37 weeks, but there's probably no need. If you need to for any reason, you can express colostrum into a small cup or syringe after the birth. There's also the possibility of donor milk if you really wanted to avoid formula. The hospital cannot give formula unless you sign a form to say they can.

brilliant thank you very much, i just want all avenues covered incase something happens to me such as a general anesthetic and i am unable to express my wishes or my milk, I know OH will panic and believe the medics that baby needs formula (as i am sure any first time dad would do)

 

[patch2006uk]

Oh, definitely write that if formula has to be given, you want LO to be cup fed. My LO never had bottles, and I truly believe cup feeding saved BFing for us

 

[missmayhem]

thank you so much


i am praying for a text book labour, delivery and BF'ing time. But having all this in my birth plan is helping me relax

 

[patch2006uk]

thank you so much


i am praying for a text book labour, delivery and BF'ing time. But having all this in my birth plan is helping me relax

Hope for the best, plan for the worst nothing wrong with being prepared!

I hope everything goes well for you! Look forward to seeing you back here in a few months! Best prep you can do is to read some threads from moms with newborns and see what they're dealing with. I wish I'd lurked here a bit more while I was pregnant, but I didn't know it existed!

 

[missmayhem]

i've been lurking for a year now!!! have my breast pads and cream at the ready..


oh one question i do have.. you get thirsty when BF'ing, how to you cope at night, how much water do you take to bed with you?

 

[patch2006uk]

i've been lurking for a year now!!! have my breast pads and cream at the ready..


oh one question i do have.. you get thirsty when BF'ing, how to you cope at night, how much water do you take to bed with you?

Awesome you know what to expect then!

In the first couple of months, I drank a glass of water every time I fed LO. I now take 750ml to bed, and it's always gone by the morning! At one point I was downing a glass of water, a glass of juice and another glass of water, just to take the edge off the thirst! I don't know how typical that is, but I was super thirsty!!

 

[summer rain]

I think your birth plan has covered most bases; the only thing I would say is make sure your OH is well informed too, I have come across several cases where the mum is poorly after the birth or even just sleeping or too exhausted to make any decisions, and the midwives have instead come to the dad and asked him if they can give formula because the LO in question really needs it and its critical they have some formula-most often it isn't but obviously any dad would be concerned and give their say so. Also some hospitals take your verbal consent for a 'just in case' scenario as your consent to giving formula; so say if they asked you if there is an emergency would it be ok to give formula and you say yes; then a situation arises where you'd need to be seperated from LO for a bit-such as your LO needing phototherapy for jaundice as an example and them needing a few hours to put LO in the incubator and set everything up, they will give formula at the first opportunity. So be aware of that. xx

 

[Experiment13]

As patch said prepare for the worst, hope for the best. I just hoped for the best and pretty much got the worst.

It is a good idea to bring your pump to the hospital - if I would have not brought mine, I would not be breastfeeding today.

Have baby next to you/on you as much as possible - I also let him sleep in his little bed and did not do this enough, which was another mistake.

Educate OH about benefits of breastfeeding. Mine had a job interview when that class was offered by the clinic and he was not into it when the hard times hit the day three he was born, constantly offering formula or feeding formula behind my back. I remember screaming "I will breastfeed even if it kills me!" at him at 4 am one of those first mornings at home.

Make sure you feel comfortable breastfeeding (as possible) before you leave the hospital. Even though I pestered every nurse that had the luck to deal with me I still was not ready when I went home.

Put the baby on the breast and keep the baby there 24/7 in those first weeks. Don't schedule the feedings, just have baby and boob next to each other constantly.

It could be tough (I really hope that it is not for you!!) and it is good idea to be ready for some endurance challenges. Make sure you know a good place to call or go in to that has lactation consultants at hand that can help answer your questions and show you tricks.

Also, it is good to be aware of what potential problems could be, such as tongue-tie, shallow latch, flat nipples, etc, etc, etc - just as you are doing right now. I wish I did what you are doing and lurked in here before the birth - I was so focused on labor and delivery and thought this part will work out somehow. Well, it did, but I think I would have handled it all better if I knew the parameters of it.

Good luck! It is good to know that things improve daily with breastfeeding and babies are amazing at what they can master in week's time.

 

[summer rain]

Ooh and another thing I forgot; if you have a BF support team in your area you can contact them before you give birth, or at least find out their contact details so if you need them after the birth you can easily access them. xx

 

[missmayhem]

i'm hopefully off on first to a bumps and babies group then calling up and sorting out BFing classes....


final section reads


In the event of complications
I would like to avoid a caesarean section were possible, but if the need arises, Aaron is to be given the choice to come to theatre; it is up to him to accept or decline. He must not be forced into attending.

I wish for skin to skin contact as soon as possible.

I would like the cord left intact as long as possible, therefore if baby needs medical attention I request that this is done on the bed with the cord still intact.

If I do require a delivery in theatre I do not wish to know the sex of my baby, Aaron will be the one to tell me this.

If the baby needs transferring to another unit or hospital, Aaron MUST be by their side!

I do NOT want my baby to be given any formula without the written consent of myself, or if I am unable Aaron, if applicable I would like to feed my baby via expressed breastmilk in a syringe or cup, NO BOTTLES TO BE USED.




--

is that clear enough or should i ad something else?

 

[patch2006uk]

You don't really need the bit about asking whether your OH will be allowed in if you have a c-section. Partners are allowed in unless you have to have general anaesthetic, but they by no means force. I wouldn't have been thrilled if my OH had decided against coming in though, as I was scared as hell and needed to hold his hand!

Your wishes are made clear, and that's what a birthplan is for, so in that regard it's good only thing I'll say is that in an emergency, it'll all go out the window, so be prepared for that too. I was all lined up for a water birth with delayed cord clamping and immediate skin to skin and maybe breast shuffling and a 6 hour discharge from hospital, but my LO was 18 days late, with heavy (really heavy-he came out brown!) meconium staining and got distressed by the induction drip, so I had an emergency c-section, didn't see LO for 1.5 hours, didn't really hold him until the next day (after he'd been left all night in wet clothes, but that's another story), hospital for 3 days and he wouldn't latch on so we cup fed and expressed every 2 hours round the clock for 8 days until he finally latched on. Not exactly what I'd imagined!

So yeah, it's worth having a plan, but like I say, hope for the best and plan for the worst! Most midwives are pretty good, just busy.

Good luck with the last weeks of your pregnancy

 

[polaris]

Just to add, I ended up having a planned C-section because LO was breech and wouldn't turn. I was so devastated as I was really planning for a natural birth. Tried everything to get him to turn but no joy. The birth was very medical and way different to what I had planned/wanted. But in the end it didn't matter anything like as much as I thought it did at the time. One of the things that I was very worried about was that it would affect breastfeeding but it didn't at all, even though I didn't even get skin-to-skin for over an hour after the birth. So it wasn't what I had wanted, but it wasn't too bad either. It definitely wasn't the disaster that it felt like at the time.

I always remember a work colleague (who is a midwife) saying to me during the pregnancy that it is great to have plans but not to be too attached to them, to be willing to change the plans if the need arises. I didn't really pay much attention at the time. But looking back now I was very attached to having the 'perfect' birth and it didn't work out that way and it actually didn't matter. My baby got here safely, there were no problems breastfeeding, and the recovery was absolutely fine too.

I hope your birth goes really smoothly and there's no reason why it shouldn't. But it's not the end of the world if plans have to change. Even though it feels like it at the time.

 

[missmayhem]

You don't really need the bit about asking whether your OH will be allowed in if you have a c-section. Partners are allowed in unless you have to have general anaesthetic, but they by no means force. I wouldn't have been thrilled if my OH had decided against coming in though, as I was scared as hell and needed to hold his hand!

the reason that bit is in their is OH is terrified of needles, see's them on TV and goes squiffy, i just wanted to put across that it needs to be his choice to come in, he's not to be forced or lectured! i'll be scared if i have a CS but if he was holding my hand i'd be watching him intently waiting on him passing out....


thank you for all your help ladies