Description
This article is from the Birth Planning
FAQ, by wnymph@FensEnde.com (Sabrina Cuddy) with numerous
contributions by others.
18 Birth Plan
"What topics did you cover in the birthing plan?" Everything I
could think of -- I started with the list in Pregnancy, Childbirth, and
the Newborn (I'm sorry, I don't remember the authors, but it's still in
print so it should be in Books in Print by title) and added a few others. See
attached birth plan for what we included last time. (By the way, it's not
necessary for a birth plan to be as detailed as this one.)
"When in your pregnancy did you discuss it with your ob/gyn/midwife?"
It's been different for each child, but usually about 3 months before the
due date. If you're not sure how your doctor/midwife is going to react,
earlier is better, so you can find another caregiver if necessary.
"Did the birthing plan work out, did things go as you would have
wanted them to go?" Yes, definitely. A lot of the credit goes to my
doctor, a family practitioner, who didn't agree with everything I wanted, but
who was willing to let me make the decisions after he outlined the risks
involved. In the US, having your doctor on your side makes all the difference
when you're doing something that isn't standard hospital policy (such as
skipping electronic fetal monitoring).
"Do you think you missed some topics in your birthing
plan you might like to add next time?" I didn't miss the topic, but my
doctor *and* my husband forgot last time that I didn't want to deliver
half-sitting with my feet in stirrups. (I was too busy to say anything at the
time.) I intend to stress the point more in advance this time. That brings
up the point that it's important that the coach be willing and able to remind
the doctor and nurses about what's in the birth plan, esp when the mother is
busy giving birth.
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children, child, kid, birth plan, bradley method
