Birth plans & drug-free birth - how much do you want it?

[Lil_Pearl]

chocolatecatty - as far as birth preparation goes, I think, as Kelly said, it's all important (physical and mental/emotional). Ideally, you want to have thought about the birth process in detail, have imagined how it will go beforehand, and how you will choose to work with the pain. To physically prepare oneself sort of goes hand-in-hand....yoga and long walks help one prepare physically and mentally, and keep you happy, which is so important. When I was in labour with my second baby, I'd read, well, everything - stearing clear of the general 'your whole nine months answered' type pregnancy/birth books, because i don't think they're of much help at all. My sister is pregnant at the moment (about 8 weeks) and I've lent her a few books (without wanting to over-load her all at once!). I did loan her "what to expect" but explained to her that it is only good for the little niggles you may get, as a nice quick answer to the everyday little things, but that it has no substance and is no good for true birth preparation. I've lent her "Spiritual Midwifery' by Ina May Gaskin, as this has lots of wonderful birth stories, as well as information of ways a good midwife will handle situations during your labour, and these two things can really help to inform and empower an individual. While some of the birth stories include some pretty far-out language and hippy ideaology, I've told her to take the goodness of the book and just not be too freaked out by the 60's-ness of it. lol. I'm an anachronistic soul, so I just love it all! It's an amazing book, and Ina May is my hero! The other book I've lent her was one on the pelvis and the positioning of the baby, so that she has a clear knowledge of her body and the way it works with the baby, and how it's all quite natural and fine. That way she will have faith in her body during the birthing process and not fear the idea of birth.

sal - I love birth plans (and it's an important part of the role of the doula to help get one together). The great and very important thing about a birth plan is that it give you power. Medical staff are not allowed to go against your wishes, so are less likely to try to take advantage of you if you've shown that you've done your research, know everything about the different interventions, and have an opinion on the way you want to be treated. I think birth plans that simply say "I don't want a caesarian" for instance, are not a good help to you or the people at your birth. What leads to a c-section? Most often, other intervention comes first. Perhaps looking into the use of fetal monitoring and it's pros and cons, and maybe deciding that you don't want a bar of it, for instance, that'd drop your chance of ending up with a caesarian. So, I think birth plans need to cover everything, and also cover your choices should it be necessary to deviate from your birth plan - i.e "should I need an emergency caesarian, I want a spinal, not a general...I want to hold/breastfeed my baby immediatly", etc. This way, no matter what heppens in the end, you feel that you have had an empowered birth experience. Really, my belief is that a birth plan should cover anything you can think of that matters to you (and if you've read a lot of good birth books, you'll end up with a lot of opinions!). Down to "should the baby need to be transferred to intensive care while I am in recovery, my husband will occompany him/her". Different hospitals and different staff have different ways of handeling situations, and some love their power trip, so be specific and clear in your determination, and your more likely to get what you want. I had an in-depth birth plan (and dot-point is good) for my daughter and forgot to even hand it to anyone! But it was still good that I'd made it, as I had empowered myself with information and had the birth I wanted anyway. But when your in labour, it isn't only difficult to communicate, it really should be avoided when possible....you should have the freedom to just "go-within", so a birth plan allows for everyone to do as you wish, without you having to order them around when you have better things to do!