My Birth Plan

My Birth Plan

Here is my low intervention birth plan which I handed to the midwives when I arrived at the hospital. But as you’ll see down below, things didn’t follow exactly to plan…

My Birth Plan

Support Person                  

  • My husband

Our view on birth

  • A beautiful, natural occurrence

  • A positive pain that ends with a baby

  • I would prefer to have minimal intervention unless necessary

Most important thing to us about our baby’s birth is… 

  • To have a healthy baby and healthy mum

Privacy 

  • I would like staff to discuss all procedures with us before they are performed, followed by privacy to allow us to make our own choices

  • Non-essential personnel, including interns and students not to be present

  • People to respect my privacy by knocking before entering the room

Birth Environment

  • Lights to be dimmed

  • Room to be quiet

  • My choice of music

Induction

  • Only to be induced if necessary

  • I prefer to spontaneously start labouring as well as rupture of membranes naturally

  • Catheterisation only with epidural, prefer to empty own bladder

  • No to Syntocinon, unless necessary

Monitoring 

  • Prefer not to be monitored, at least continually unless necessary, as I would like to have an active birth

  • If monitoring, prefer Doppler rather than electronic fetal monitoring or scalp clip

Managing Pain & Positions                                    

  • If everything goes well and I don’t need pain relief, it is important to be that I have an active birth and be able to move around

  • Pain management include water/shower, massage, hot towels

  • Active positions including kneeling, on all fours, squatting, on fit ball or any other positions suggested to me that would assist with labour naturally

Pain Relief

  • I am interested in using water (shower), TENS machine and breathing  exercises/techniques to work with the pain of labour

  • I do not want to have pethidine or morphine

  • If I do need more pain relief I would prefer to have an epidural with a low a dose as possible so that I still have feeling in my legs and I am aware of contractions. I would prefer for it to wear off for the second stage as I’d like to push out the baby myself.

First Stage

  • No to time constraints unless medically necessary

  • No to artificially rupturing of membranes unless necessary

Second stage

  •  Encouragement to progress naturally without time limits

  • Active birth positions

  • Assistance in slow birthing of baby’s head and natural restitution

  • Dim lighting and quietness

  • Prefer not to have ventouse/vacuum or forceps unless necessary

  • Baby handed to me immediately unless signs of fetal distress

  • Delayed cord clamping until pulse has finished

Episiotomy

  • I’d prefer not to be cut if it can be avoided. I’d welcome help in order to prevent it

Delivery of Placenta/Fourth Stage

  • Can it be delivered naturally, without assistance?

AFTER BABY IS BORN

Hep B & Vit K Injections

  • I would prefer these to be done 3 hours after birth or next day

Skin to skin contact and breastfeeding

  • I intend to do skin to skin contact for first 2 hours after birth and have the baby latch on to the breast in his own time without assistance.

In case of caesarean section…

  • Avoid caesarean unless necessary

  • Partner to be present during caesarean

  • Lift baby so I can see it before handed to the resuss team

  • Skin to skin contact with the baby in theatre plus in recovery if at all possible

The plan was my wish for labour and birth but of course as births go it didn’t follow exactly to plan:

  • We had no time to set up the room or put music on. It was GO as soon as we arrived as my contractions were pretty intense.

  • I was continually monitored for the wellbeing of the baby.

  • I spent the second stage birthing on my back. At first I didn’t think pushing on my back would work as it goes against gravity (hips tilting upwards) however it was in that position that I was making the most progress.

  • I ended up having a ventouse/vacuum birth as the baby was getting tired.

  • Once the baby was born they injected my thigh with Syntocinon to induce the delivery of the placenta. To birth the placenta naturally sometimes it can take up to 45 minutes. At this point in time with the baby in my arms I wasn’t too fussed on having the injection.

  • The obstetrician asked if I wanted delayed cord clamping which I did want and had forgotten to add to my plan so I have included it below.

All in all I had a good birth experience. You can read about it here.

Lei xx

Motherhood NotesLei Lei Claveymotherhood notes, birth plan, low intervention, birth, birth storyComment