My pregnancy/birth plan

[stardust599]

Not sure if this belongs in here as I'm not having a homebirth (I'm 40mins away from nearest hosp and too scared of what to expect) but I'm trying to keep it as natural as possible. Please let me know if you feel it should be somewhere else?

This is my plan for the rest of pregnancy and birth - it's pretty flexible so can you all let me know what you think? Have I got realistic expectations? How do I shorter it to a birth plan for hospital?

Thanks
xxx

During my pregnancy I will try to execise often - walking and using my birthing ball for squats and other exercises. I hope this will prepare my body for labour and help move baby into the correct position.

From 34 weeks I will take Raspberry Leaf Capsules to help shorten the second stage of labour.

From when I start maternity leave at 36-37 weeks I will take a brisk walk each day to help keep me fit and active. I will also spend time relaxing/resting and preparing my home for our new arrival.

From 37 weeks I will do pereneal massage daily to prevent tearing while pushing.

From 37 weeks I will also use Evening Primrose Oil to prepare my cervix for labour.

If I go overdue I will try natural induction techniques such as long walks, acupressure and nipple stimulation.

When I feel my first early labour contractions I will ignore them as long as possible until I cannot sleep (if it is middle of night) or carry on my day as normal. When I feel that I am definately in early labour I will make the final preparations to my hospital bag. I will have something light to eat and try to go to the toilet.

I will then try walking and rocking on my birthing ball to manage the pain when it is becoming too hard to ignore. I would then like to take a bath and use massage or a hot water bottle to help.

When my contractions are either very painful or coming less than 5 mins apart I would like to leave for hospital. I will pick a CD to put on in the car to help relax me.

When I arrive at hospital I would like my baby to be monitored to ensure she is not distressed. I am happy for a vaginal examination to check my progress.

I would like to change into comfortable clothes for the birth and remain mobile and active throughout. I want to carry on managing pain with changing positions, massage, hot water bottle and support from my partner. I am happy for vaginal examinations and my babys heartbeat to be checked as necessary while labour is progressing.

I would not like to be offered any other form of pain relief unless I feel that I am not coping and I ask for this. In the later stages I may like to try gas and air.

When I am ready to push I would like to try to remain upright by squatting or kneeling on all fours. I would like my partner to be able to support me with this.

When my baby is born I would like her passed to me for skin to skin contact. I would like my partner to be given the opportunity to cut the cord and hold our baby.

I am happy to be given an injection to deliver the placenta and would like our baby to be checked over and weighed. Once the placenta is delivered I would like to try further skin to skin contact and breastfeeding. Once our baby has been fed we would like to dress her ourselves. I may like to shower and change clothes while my partner is watching/holding our baby.

I would like to go home as soon as possible after the birth providing there are no concerns about my baby or mines health.

 

[KandyKinz]

well that's a very easy going birth plan... Quite different then mine lol......

You're care providers will be pleased.....

 

[MumOfPlenty]

That seems to me like a pretty realistic interpretation of how youd like things to go, tbh.

When it comes to pregnancy, you may find yourself not doing everything on the list, or doing it all religiously! It depends how it takes you, in the later stages! You might have more energy than ever before, or you might just not be that bothered about stuff!

Your plan for labouring at home before going to the hosp is good.. Seems pretty much what happens, in my experience, you get the early stages, you work through them, then it kicks in good and proper and you carry on as long as you can.. 'til you need to go to the hospital.

In regards to shortening it, I'd say just put on your birth plan that you'd like to remain active and be offered pain relief when you ask for it. With immediate skin to skin/BF and partner to cut the cord.. And that you and your OH would like to dress bubs, and providing all is well you would like a 4 hour discharge.

I don't think you need to mention anything else as in my experience they ask to give you the injection to deliver the placenta, and they ask anything else they might have to do after bubs is here. They will keep you informed every step of the way, even when you are in labour. This is important, as you do still have control - it's not something that you don't have at any point, providing it's a normal birth. The bath you will be offered, probably along with a nice cuppa tea and a biscuit too, while your OH stays with bubs..

It's not so scary as it seems, alright the labour can be scary to comprehend but once it's over, it's easy.. Baby is with you, your partner is with you, neither of them get taken away providing all is well and you're pretty much free to do as you please. And you have a lovely new bubba at the end!

And I've just realised - you're due 2 days after me!

 

[JenStar1976]

Looks like you've got everything covered. What are your thoughts on Vitamin K for LO? Would you want LO to have it? If so, do you have the option of it being given orally or via injection? Any thoughts also on whether you want the cord to finish pulsating before being clamped & cut? x

 

[stardust599]

Thanks folks. I will hopefully stick to my pregnancy stuff, I've just changed my maternity leave so I finish at 33-34weeks too as I'm struggling with my 11hour day for travelling so I only have another 6weeks ish left to work!

I'm pretty easy going, I just want to see how things work out! There is a space in my pregnancy notes that I'll fill out just with the no pain relief etc and everything else I'm hoping will fall into place.

Basically my plan is -
To prepare myself as much as possible mentally and physically for the birth.
And to deliver my baby safely with as little intervention as possible and to birth the way my body already knows how

The only things I feel strongly about are -
Not to be offered pain relief unless my plan goes wrong and I beg for it lol
Not to be told when to push etc. as I want to go with instinct/what my body already knows
Not to be given an epsiotomy under any circumstances unless my baby is distressed and needing to come out very quickly
Not to be separated from my baby unless necessary and if so I want my OH to stay with her
To be left on my own afterwards with OH and baby to be together as a new family
To go home as soon as poss



I'm not sure about cord cutting. How long does it take for the cord to stop pulsating? I think I would also like to deliver placenta naturally but I've heard that if you want to wait for this it takes an hour or two and you're baby is taken away for this time?

Not sure about Vitamin K either but I think I will probably be okay with this as I've never heard anything bad. I think they only offer an injection though (it's a small maternity unit).

Thanks for reading! xx

 

[mrsmo7]

your plan sounds good to me.

The cord takes about 10 mins to stop pulsating allowing the full blood supply to pass to the baby. There is evidence that this is the best thing for the baby. Then the cord can be cut.
Waiting for the placenta can take any where between 20 mins and a couple of hours but they do not take the baby off you and if you feed the baby while waiting it can speed up the delivery of the placenta. But if you wait then it is taking too long you can change your mind and have the injection later.

You can also ask for the vit k by mouth but you might have to arrange it before hand. It just depends how you feel about your newborn having a injection?
to be honest my first 4 all had the injection and didn't have a problem but this time i'm giving it by mouth. I suddenly thought i have a nice gentle waterbirth then stick a needle in them? but that me.

 

[JenStar1976]

I delivered my placenta naturally - it took 12 minutes. The midwives just massaged my tummy to bring on a contraction and out it slipped! I think that lots of skin-to-skin with your LO straight after the birth is good for encouraging the placenta to come out (the midwives massaging your tummy is supposed to mimic your baby kicking your tummy naturally). x

 

[KandyKinz]

I delivered my placenta naturally - it took 12 minutes. The midwives just massaged my tummy to bring on a contraction and out it slipped! I think that lots of skin-to-skin with your LO straight after the birth is good for encouraging the placenta to come out (the midwives massaging your tummy is supposed to mimic your baby kicking your tummy naturally). x

That's strange because I was taught to do the exact opposite because massaging the uterus manually increases the risk of the placenta only partially detaching which can result in hemorrhage. If I had ever massaged a uterus with a placenta still inside while in my clinical training I probably would have had my hand slapped!

 

[KandyKinz]

I delivered my placenta naturally - it took 12 minutes. The midwives just massaged my tummy to bring on a contraction and out it slipped! I think that lots of skin-to-skin with your LO straight after the birth is good for encouraging the placenta to come out (the midwives massaging your tummy is supposed to mimic your baby kicking your tummy naturally). x

That's strange because I was taught to do the exact opposite because massaging the uterus manually increases the risk of the placenta only partially detaching which can result in hemorrhage. If I had ever massaged a uterus with a placenta still inside while in my clinical training I probably would have had my hand slapped!

Hmmmmmm there's even a cochrane review to somewhat support what your midwives did.... Hmmmmm you learn something everyday... Ill have to share that, cause that's something that's not practiced around here!

 

[Sophist]

Is this your first baby?

If you are waiting so long to go to the hospital (which I do think is wise), you may want to consider going someplace closer to the hospital a little earlier in labor, and then go to the hospital at 5 minutes apart. A 40 minute drive with contractions coming every 5 minutes would be just awful. I could hardly sit in the car for my DH to drive me six blocks when my daughter was born. Any friends or relatives live near the hospital that you could labor at their home for a while? Or even a mall or some place you could go walk around.

The birthing suite where I'm delivering is 45 minutes from my home. I'm planning to go to my SIL's house in early labor, she's about 10 minutes from the birth suite.

 

[stardust599]

Thanks for that tip about the journey. Hmmm 5mins apart would be 8contractions so I'm not too sure now as I'm not that close to my family (they live nearer to hosp) and it might be the middle of night so I wouldn't want to wake them.

We could split journey in half if I needed though - 20mins in the car then pull over and take a walk for a couple of contractions then finish the journey? We wouldn't be isolated if I ended up needing help as it's a main road 99% of the way with lots of lay-bys to stop.

I guess I could go to my Mums- she's about 15mins from the hospital but my Dad and brother would be there too and her 4 dogs and it's chaos lol xx

 

[KandyKinz]

I think it's best to labour some where you're comfortable early on... despite the car ride.

 

[mama.bear]

having your LO placed on your chest for skin-to-skin contact (immediately after birth.. this is when the babe's natural instinct to root & feed is strongest and if you've been able to avoid any drugs/narcotics during birth, feeding 'shouldn't' be an issue) leading to inital breastfeeding/breast crawl can stimulate oxytocin to be released, causing the uterus to contract.. this will allow the placenta to be birthed, and can take anywhere from few minutes to 30 or so!
GOOD LUCK and MANY CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BABY!