When I was pregnant with Meghan, although I’d heard the term “birth plan”, it wasn’t something I thought I needed. The only thing I was really adamant about was breastfeeding as soon as possible after the birth, and that was already the policy at the hospital where I was delivering.
I feel more educated this time around and know there are certain things I’d prefer to avoid, if possible. Because of this, I’ve decided to have a “birth plan” in place so the doctors and nurses who are aiding my delivery are aware of my preferences. I don’t trust myself to be able to communicate my wishes when I’m in the middle of labor or right after giving birth. I’ll be lucky if I can remember my name at that point.
I have no grand delusions that you can perfectly plan a birth. Things are going to go how they go, if you know what I mean. So “birth plan” may be the name of the document I’m going to present to my doctor, but in reality, these are my hopes. My wishes. What, in a perfect world, I’d like to see happen.
Maryea and Tim’s Birth Plan
Early Labor
Environment
- Low lighting
- Music playing (I will bring)
Mobility/Monitoring
- I would like the ability to move about freely as much as possible
- I prefer to not have an IV for hydration unless absolutely necessary
- I would like intermittent, external monitoring
Labor Induction/Augmentation
- Allow labor to progress naturally as much as possible, as long as mother and baby are safe
- No Pitocin unless medically necessary
- If Pitocin is necessary, I request the lowest dose possible
- I prefer my amniotic sac be allowed to rupture on its own
Pain Relief Options
- I will attempt to use natural pain relief techniques first
- Please do not offer an epidural; provide only if requested
- No other pain relief medications are desired
Late Labor/Pushing
- I would like to be able to push in whatever position is most comfortable for me
- I would like to avoid an episiotomy unless absolutely necessary
After Delivery
- I would like to hold the baby immediately after the birth and breastfeed as soon as possible
- Tim would like to cut the cord
- Tim or I would like to be present for all tests and procedures done on the baby
- Avoid Pitocin after the birth
Baby Care
- We will bring our own soap for the baby’s bath
- I will be exclusively breastfeeding and would not like my baby to be offered any formula or pacifiers
- I would like the baby to be in the room with us
- I would like to meet with a lactation consultant as soon as possible
This is what I came up with after reflecting on my first birth experience (read Meghan’s birth story part 1 and part 2), doing additional research, and reading a lot of birth plan examples. It isn’t as detailed as some, but it highlights what is most important to me and Tim.
As you can see, I am not 100% decided on whether I’ll have a completely natural birth. I left it open-ended with “please do not offer an epidural; provide only if requested.” I’ve read so many great natural birth stories and think I would love the benefits: easier recovery for mom, more alert baby, and feelings of empowerment.
There is one little thing, however, that’s holding me back. Fear. I am scared of the pain. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not being able to handle it. So if I can’t, I can’t. But I will certainly try. Many of the things I’ve set out to accomplish in life I’ve done, so maybe I’ll surprise myself with more strength than I think I have during this birth!
Question: Did you have a natural birth (or do you plan to if you’ve never given birth)? What was your birth experience like?
Maryea, after using the Hypnobirthing method to have a natural birth with my third son (epidurals for the first two), I cannot recommend it highly enough! Granted, it’s a very small sample size, but #3 was the most mellow and alert of the newborns as well as the earliest to latch on. My husband called him the Buddha Baby. You still have plenty of time left in your pregnancy to learn the key techniques…and no matter which path your labor takes you down (i.e., medication or not), your labor can be more calm and comfortable along the way. An added benefit is that practicing these relaxation techniques during your pregnancy allows you some relaxed, meditative time – good for both you and your baby (and hubby, if he wants to listen along with you). Good luck! What an exciting time!!
P.S. I still have my book and cd and would be happy to send them to you…just email me if you’re interested 🙂
Thank you so much Cathy. What a sweet offer. I have a trip to the library planned for tomorrow, but if I don’t find a good book on Hypnobirthing, I will email you. 🙂
I forgot to comment on your birth story for Meghan, but I really enjoyed reading it. I do love a good birth story 🙂
I’ve had 3 natural child births in the hospital. My kids are 4yo , 2yo, and 6 mos. The thing I say the most is that it takes mental preparation. Yes, the pain is intense, but I had to have a mentality that I was gonna do it. I went through the birth class offered by the hospital before my 1st. It was helpful in that they talked alot about the relaxation techniques and the importance of relaxation between contractions. I took this to heart and really tried to stay relaxed between contractions. I even tried to visualize the cervix opening while I was relaxing….kind weird, but the mind is powerful! My hubby helped tremendously in reminding me to relax while rubbing my shoulders, etc….
I woke up at 5:45 am w/ mild cramping with my 1st son. Wasn’t sure it was labor, but the contractions gradually got more intense. Got to the hospital by 8am – I was 6cm. He was born at 11:30am. It was pretty intense after I got to the hospital. The dr did break my water so I had to stay in bed after that 🙁 But, only pushed for about 30 min. The birthing class did help w/ that part too. W/o that class, I wouldn’t have been as effective in my pushing.
Baby boy #2 was 12 days late 🙁 I waited and waited and didn’t want to be induced b/c I wanted a natural labor. But, my dr. finally said that we needed to set a date – he didn’t want to go past 42 weeks. The set date was about a week away and we all felt sure he would come on his own. But, he didn’t. I was having mild contractions the day before so that was a bit more encouraging. I was dilated to 4cm when I got to the hospital for the induction. Pitocin was started at 8am. Hard contractions that I really had to breathe through didn’t start till about 10:30am and he was born at 12:30pm. So only about 2 hrs of hard contractions. It really wasn’t bad at all considering how afraid I was of an induction. I do think my body was “ready”. He weighed and measured the exact same as my 1st son so I do think the date was wrong.
With #3, my water broke at 1:45 am while I was snoozing. We live 1 hr and 15 min from the hospital so I wanted to go ahead and drive to the city but didn’t want to go to the hospital yet, til the contractions were more regular. We didn’t want to wake any of our family in the middle of the night, but I really knew I just needed to walk to help labor progress. So, we stopped at the 24 hr. Wal-Mart…..haha! Yep, walked around Wal-Mart in the middle of the night stopping for contractions here & there and watching the workers stock the shelves. I finally got a bit tired and hubby was too, so we went back out to the car and I breathed through the contractions while the hubs slept a bit. About 5:30 I woke him and said it was time to drive that way. I had a serious urge to have a BM (sorry TMI) so he pulled into the donut shop that was just opening for the day so I could use the bathroom. When I got out of the car there, the contractions got much more intense. I went to the bathroom and hubby told me I better not have the baby in the donut shop bathroom! I didn’t and we drove the few minutes to the hospital. I walked to the L&D floor at 6:00am and stopped for a few contractions on the way. I knew that delivery was close since it was my 3rd time around, but the nurse wouldn’t call my dr. til she set up the monitors and checked me. She FINALLY checked me and I was 9.5cm. She ran from the room and all of the sudden my room was FULL of people! I was starting to have the urge to push, but they said wait since the dr wasn’t there yet….yeah right! The doctor got there put on his gloves and told me to push. Pushed 3 times and out she came 🙂 We didn’t know if we were having boy/girl so I was so excited to find out it was a girl!! It was an incredible experience! By far my most “exciting” birth.
Originally I didn’t want to get an epidural because our insurance doesn’t cover maternity and we would have to pay $1500 extra for it. I decided that was ridiculous and that I wanted to use that money for something else. (we later used it for a trip to Hawaii sans baby :). But, with my subsequent births, I knew I could do it and it wasn’t even a question. We would like to have 1 more and I’m considering a home birth. Mostly for financial reasons (the hospital has gone up on their prices), but also because I’m def. more like you w/ not wanting much intervention. I would have done a home birth with #2 & #3, but hubby wasn’t so sure. After #3 was so fast & easy he said this next time around we could look into it.
I saw another commenter recommend “The Business of Being Born”. I’m already a believer in much they discussed but it was still very interesting. I watched it instantly from Netflix. It does have some real birth footage without anything edited out, so the hubs didn’t want to watch with me….just FYI 🙂
So excited for you and really looking forward to reading your birth story. After all those birth stories I shared, my biggest help w/ the natural child birth was PRAYER! I prayed ALOT while pregnant about the exact kind of birth I wanted and the LORD answered!!
Thanks for sharing your stories, Leigh Anne! I absolutely love the story of #3. I’m going to pray and visualize getting to the hospital and already being dilated 8+. That is such an ideal situation for me.
It’s interesting that you bring up the financial aspect. I hadn’t thought of that. I’ll have to look into our coverage, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the epidural isn’t covered. We don’t have excellent insurance. That will give me an extra incentive NOT to get it! Thanks for bringing that idea to light for me. 🙂
I think it’s wonderful you wrote out a birth plan! I didn’t know to do that when I had my first child.
I had a completely natural birth and I wanted to agree with some previous people’s comments: you can absolutely totally do it. This is what our bodies as women are designed to do. And I agree, your body will not give you more than you can handle.
I had a fast, hard labour. I had been drinking red raspberry leaf iced tea the last 3 months every day which aids in strengthening uterine muscles and apparently it worked!
I laboured at home and the contractions were intense, fast, close together and really unexpected. I went from mild cramping similar to PMS discomfort to full out labour in like an hour 🙂
There came a point where I was exhausted from 4 hours of intense contractions and I said I can’t do this anymore, take me to the hospital, I need the drugs!!! I got up from the couch. My water broke. And suddenly I felt an entirely new sensation. And I needed to PUSH. My body was pushing all by itself.
I did some breathing thing on the 10 min drive to the hospital. They got me upstairs to L&D, in a gown, on a bed and about 8 minutes later my baby was out. FAST 🙂
The contractions were harder than the pushing and birthing for me.
But I really encourage you to be brave. You can birth naturally and you will be awesome.
Thank you for your encouraging words and for sharing your story! 4 hours of intense contractions sounds really rough–you must be one tough woman. 🙂 I’m so curious to see how different or the same this birth will be to my first. I just pray I have a healthy baby at the end!