How do I word my birth plan?

[BabyCleo]

So this will be my first, and im a very anxious person (I have PTSD, panic attacks and a general anxiety) I also really don't like hospitals or intervention. Luckily, my hospital is very pro-natural labor.

I don't know how to type up my birth plan, can someone help me with the template/what to include?

My absolute wishes:

- No IV (drip) at all. I would need a serious reason to have one.
- No epidural, however I would like to know when that "last chance to have this" time comes up
- Free to walk around/not stuck on a bed
- Minimal vaginal checks
- I would like a water birth, however I still need to check in with my hospital about this.
- DH to be with baby at all times (our hospital is one of the best for babies in Canada, so there would be no transfer no matter what. Over half of Canada gets transferred to our hospital in emergency)

Im not super fussy. I don't care for soft music/lighting and all that. Im just very intent on having very little intervention. My hospital is really a top notch hospital, but I really do want these wishes in place.

Can someone help me on how to type this and what I should write about an emergency/anything im missing?

 

[BabyCleo]

Oh! Also id like immediate skin to skin and delayed clamping

 

[mummytobe_93]

I would probably just either bullet point it or section it in to different parts as in labour, during pushing phase and then postnatal (maybe word it differently) and then just bullet point what you want or don't want at each stage
Midwives/nurses/doctors are busy and don't have a lot of time they want something they can skim read. They don't want to be reading big paragraphs x

 

[kajastarlight]

I, personally, never typed out a plan. I had few requirements and told my Dr. about them at our last appointment and that was that. But I like the idea of Bullet points and keeping it simple.
Also remember that they aren't really gonna do much of anything without your consent. It is not like they are gonna sneek up on you and give you an eppidurral. Or even an IV. (well, they would do an IV if you lost consousness due to bleeding, but you would probably consent to it at that point anyway)

 

[ay2808]

Bullet points, short and consise. Best bit of advice is for your birth partner to know your wishes as they may need to communicate for you.

 

[Cattia]

I did my birth plan today with my midwife, it's all in my pregnancy notes and is just a series of tick boxes that she went through with me. This is maybe different in the UK, but I'm pretty sure you could find something similar online which just runs through the major options and then you can just tick or cross the ones you want or don't want. On mine there are also some boxes for extra notes, so for example the MW wrote that I am happy to have students present, that sort of thing.

 

[MeaganMackenz]

I didn't have a plan. The only thing I did not want was someone in the back ground cheering me on "you can do it you're doing so good" blah blah blah. No thanks. I wanted it kept to "push don't push keep going stop". Hubby made sure no cheerleaders made it into my labour haha.

So sorry I'm no help, I could care less how it goes as long as someone annoying isn't there haha.

 

[MrsKChicago]

I think you'd probably do fine just printing out the bullet points you have. Nurses and doctors won't have a lot of time to read a long birth plan, but if you give them just a few main points like you gave us, you may have better luck. It's definitely to your benefit that there are only a few things that are very important to you.

The best advice I've heard is that the birth plan is for your birth partner. Mine is more detailed, but it covers post-birth, baby procedures, etc. I don't expect the midwife to even look at it - their standard policies line up well with my preferences, and I trust them not to push interventions I don't want. But DH and my doula both have copies, and if any question or issue comes up and I'm in some crazy distracted primal labor zone and can't answer, they'll be able to easily refer to the list and see what I prefer.

My list included a few personal notes (scared of sharp things, automatic BP cuffs don't read me accurately, stuff like that), a list of what my ideal birth would be, a list of interventions I'd really prefer to avoid in a non-emergency situation, our preferences for post-birth procedures, and an emergency plan (who I want with me during a c-section, stuff like that). And a list of important phone numbers in case our phones die or something.

 

[Scout]

I didn't do a plan, but the things you have mentioned are things they would ask you about as you go anyway. I would just be sure OH knew what you wanted.

 

[BabyCleo]

Wow thanks everyone! I laughed at "sneak up on you and give you an epidural" lol.

I'll definitely just bullet point the things I wrote out in here, and add in my wishes in case of an emergency. Having written down numbers in case cell phones die is such a good idea. I also like the idea of listing my fears. I'll keep it short and sweet!

Like I said I am a flexible person when it comes to an emergency, however I don't want yo be asked a billion times about an IV/epi.

I also like the idea of no cheerleaders!

 

[counting]

I love these:
https://imgur.com/a/PAFkn#0

I also highly recommend reading natural hospital birth. It really helped me finalize the wording and organization of my birth plan.

 

[counting]

Ps. if you are interested I can email you my birth plan for reference. I had some input from a doula, etc, and it sounds like we have a lot of the same type of requests.

 

[Feronia]

I made one of those icon birth plans mentioned above, but mostly because I was bored at work. My midwives ask all of the important questions, and I was even able to tell them that I wanted to use my handmade cord ties, not cut the cord before I birthed the placenta, and all of the things I was declining. So I really had no need to have one, especially since I birthed at home. Here's mine though -- it was fun to make!