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Comments

  1. says

    My only birth plan advice: know what you want, but make your peace with things changing. Birth is so unpredictable! In the end, your babe is here and you are in love and nothing else matters :)

  2. says

    I don't agree that nothing else matters. Of course it's most important but many, many women experience traumatic births, and occasionally birth rape (when doctors/nurses penetrate them with things against their permission (tools, fingers, whatever, it's that it's against their permission that causes the trauma, and I speak from experience with one of my midwives there). I know some women who are still dealing with those issues 8 years later. It's not terribly common but I think all women should respect other women's experiences and not tell them that they are selfish or don't care about their kids since that's all that "should" matter. Not saying that about the above commentor, this is something most people never think about/deal with (luckily!) but I see women who do say that everywhere, and it only makes the women who are traumatized feel worse because they are made to feel shame about it. It makes me sad.Things I would look up/research for a birth plan (and I think i've mentioned some of these to you before but i forget!): Delayed cord clamping, being able to move a lot, trying not having your water artificially broken, no membrane strippage (though that's before labor, but doctors and midwives love doing it and there is no scientific basis for it, and it hurts like crazy), How many cervical checks you want (i had too many and during labor i was getting panic attacks when they tried), how long they will "let" you labor, make sure you are able to eat/drink during labor, how many people you will allow in the room with you, your wishes on how to deal with interventions if they become necessary in an emergency, that you want your baby put on your chest for some skin to skin bonding time & nursing time before the weight and other checks are done. If you want all the shots/drops/tests and such that they give after birth. And It's a bit post-birth plan if you aren't doing it at a hospital, but researching whether or not to circumcise (though there is a lot of outdated and incorrect science studies floating around so you have to be careful.)That's all i can think of now. I can't believe how long it's been since birth plans seemed like it was taking over my life, now it all feels so hazy! Time goes so fast! Good luck with your birth plan! :D I found lots of good resources online for reading other people's and suggestions for mine. Livejournal's pregnant community is really good for that too. :)

  3. says

    Your birth plan is more for you to know what you want like MrsErvin said. I spent much time on mine then forgot to give it to the nurses. Fortunately everything went to plan anyway. My OB knew what I wanted and was on board. I was grateful for that. Things to think about are medications, after birth procedures, laboring techniques. Google will bring up many resources. Good luck!