People are always asking if i have my birth plan ready or have i thought of my birth plan which got me thinking...how do i prepare a birth plan when (being my first baby) i really am not certain what im planning for? I mean ive read a lot and being on this site reading birth stories has helped i think but having no physical experience how do you prepare yourself for whats to come? Everyone says 'it hurts' but i dont think i'll truly grasp the term it hurts until i've done it IYKWIM?
How do i arm myself with the best possible birth plan? How did you come up with your first birth plan?
I didn't really have a 'birth plan' as such. I just outlined the major things that I would have preferred if possible. A lot of things can happen in labour and birth so sometimes your birth plan doesn't go 'to plan' but it's good to have some things written down to guide your caregivers down the path that you would prefer to go. For example, I wanted a natural third stage, didn't want drugs, wanted to move around as much as possible, wanted skin to skin contact straight away, I wanted to breastfeed. I wanted everything to flow as naturally as possible. I also stipulated that I did not want to be separated from my baby at any time unless absolutely necessary for her health or my health. They were the main points. I didn't want an episiotomy. I didn't want to be monitored. That was about it in my birth plan. It was very basic because DD1 was early so I didn't have a huge amount of time to think about it really. Also, I didn't want to think about it too much. I was pretty happy to just let things happen. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful midwife as part of a birth centre which I can't praise highly enough so she was supportive of my wishes. In the end, I was monitored continuously and had an episiotomy due to concerns about DD1's health. But in the end, I didn't care, as long as we were both safe and healthy. The only advice I can give is to not have a solid, inflexible plan. If you do, you could find yourself disappointed if things don't go to plan. Good luck with it all xxx
My birth plan was very basic as well. It basically stated that I wanted to try a natural delivery, that I would ask for pain relief if I wanted it. I knew it was there, and didn't need a midwife asking me every 10 minutes if I wanted it. I put in there that I wanted to breastfeed, that my dh & my mum were my birth support people etc etc.
Ammaki, check out the birth plan that's on this site. You can download it and change it to suit you.
Also, if you can, get a copy of Better Birth. It's a great book and will give you some idea's on what you want for your birth.
Oh, and I also mentioned that dh can be my 'voice' when I couldn't be. So when the contractions were coming too hard and fast for me to be vocal about what I wanted, dh could be. It was important to tell them that upfront otherwise they probably wouldn't have listened to dh
Birth Plan For First Timer?
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given me some ideas on what direction i need to be heading in! xo
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