Birth plans, written with regard to alternative scenarios, are a valuable resource, not only to the birthing mother, but to the midwives. My birth plan was in dot point but I had dot points that covered the event of me being transferred to the maternity ward from the birth centre, should any intervention have been required.
I had written that I wanted to labour at home and I nearly forgot this when I was labouring. Thankfully, the midwives had read over the plan and persuaded me to stick to my plan ("for your own sake") and they got me back on track when I said I might want to come in sooner in the labour. This would be the wavering confidence that Kelly was talking about in the stats!
It was only after the birth that DP and the midwife went over just how much of the birth went to plan. It was after the birth of my boy that we departed from the plan, but by then I didn't care. The main parts of the plan that went to plan were labouring fully at home, not wanting any internal checks done, dim lights, essential oils in the burner, relaxing music and, my favourite part, having a waterbirth. My midwife apologised profusely about the active expulsion of the placenta, as she finished her shift, but I assured her that as I had got my waterbirth, a bit of post-partum haemmorhage was quite incidental.
I had people scoff at my having a birth plan ready and I really resented this. They thought that because I was a first timer I was out of touch with reality. In fact, I was aware of what COULD happen, but I operated on the basis that my normal pregnancy was going to end with a normal birth (what others call a 'natural' birth, or, as some put it, 'alternative'!).
I did go and seek out-of-hospital birth education in HypnoBirthing classes. My facilitator was great in that she also used other hypnotherapy methods she has in her 'toolbox', with my partner and I. It was well worth the expense. I thought, during some of my labour, that the HypnoBirthing may have been a waste of time because I didn't realise I was even using it! By the time I presented to the birth centre I was ready to start 'pushing' and I thought it might be too soon (watched too many movies as a child!), but the midwife team must have realised, from my birth plan and my interactions with them, that I was more in tune with my birthing body than I was consciously giving myself credit for and told me to go for it! I then went into my 'zone' and had a painless birth - not sensation-free, by any means, but I couldn't honestly call it 'pain'.
I felt so strongly about being allowed to have a natural birth that I unconsciously gave permission to my body to do just that and it didn't listen to me when I tried to pike at the last minute!
I had read in magazines about mothers who had made a list of what they would do 'next time' in terms of assertiveness, and decided that I didn't want to leave these things to the benefit of hindsight and that I would learn from these women's experiences. I know a lot of people thought I was ****y and probably think now that I 'fluked' it with Oscar. I didn't - I made that happen, in a society where we are told to trust the medicos.
To have a fulfilling birth experience, unfortunately, women need to know that good education exists, but must be sought. I stumbled across Belly Belly and this site really helped steer me in the right direction for what I wanted, even though I had a fair idea of the kind of birth I wanted (above all, a waterbirth!). What about the millions of women who don't stumble across this kind of empowering information, or who are not as naturally determined as I am to do the hard yards for a rewarding outcome?
I admit to considering drugs and intervention...but only in the car on the way to the birth centre! In the end I was there for less than 45 minutes before Oscar was born...just as planned.
To say that birth plans are a waste of time is to have a misconstrued idea of what a birth plan is and should be. It is a PLAN, not a blueprint.
Anyway, I DO feel ****y when people ask how my birth went and I have to reply "Great! It was very zen, just like I said it would be".