Comments on: Fufilling Birth through a Birth Plan http://bethyoga.com/BLOG/114/book-group-march-24th/ yoga for pregnancy, birth and beyond Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:00:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Teri http://bethyoga.com/BLOG/114/book-group-march-24th/comment-page-1/#comment-11 Teri Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:50:13 +0000 http://bethyoga.com/?p=114#comment-11 I did read your post on Birth Plans. I think they can be a wonderful tool for communication and for people to clarify what they want out of their birth experience. With that said, sometimes birth plans can back fire. For one thing I dislike the term "plan" - in actuality there is nothing about birth you can plan - when it starts, how long it takes, where you are when it starts, etc. Over the years I have experimented with lots of terms and my current favorite is Birth preferences and priorities. Also I have had more success with them when they are written entirely in the positive and open the door for the professionals who are going to be involved (nurse or midwife or doctor) in a positive light. In the intro paragraph I recommend to make an invitation - along the lines... we really want this birth to be as active and upright as possible and hope you(the staff) will use all the skills and knowledge you have to help us to have as non-interventive birth as possible. We look forward to suggestions on positions, massage techniques, etc etc And instead of writing ~I prefer not to be separated from my birth partner during hospital stay. I would encourage couples to write: my partner really helps me stay calm and focused and we want to stay together continuously. other possible edits. I hope to drink liquids and eat fruit - to keep myself hydrated. I want my membranes to release on their own - even if that means the baby is born in the caul I hope to be active and upright but also patient and let labor find a rhythm of its own - as long as the baby is doing fine I am fine laboring on and on and on. :) We would love suggests on non-pharmacological ways of dealing with the pain. Please note in our chart that "patient prefers not to be offered pain medication". We do have a code word (which we will share) that when I say that it means "don't talk me out of pain medications anymore" But until that time, please use all your skills in offering alternatives to medications. We would love your suggestions as to where the best place to walk is and hope you will help us make sure we have access to a ball, an armless chair, a rocking chair. We have brought our own yoga mats. We look forward to intermittent monitoring. We are very concerned about privacy and hope you will help us limit the numbers who are present to just our support team, the doctor/midwife and the minimum number of nursing staff. Thanks for being part of our support team on this special day - one that we will never forget - the day we welcomed our baby. Gotta go - don't know why I am writing you such a lengthy email......sorry I got on a roll of thinking about birth plans! Too often as i have travelled around to various hospitals, staff sometimes admit to equating length of birth = chances of cesarean. And that's sad when they are seen as a barrier - not a communication tool. I did read your post on Birth Plans. I think they can be a wonderful tool for communication and for people to clarify what they want out of their birth experience. With that said, sometimes birth plans can back fire. For one thing I dislike the term “plan” – in actuality there is nothing about birth you can plan – when it starts, how long it takes, where you are when it starts, etc. Over the years I have experimented with lots of terms and my current favorite is Birth preferences and priorities. Also I have had more success with them when they are written entirely in the positive and open the door for the professionals who are going to be involved (nurse or midwife or doctor) in a positive light.

In the intro paragraph I recommend to make an invitation – along the lines… we really want this birth to be as active and upright as possible and hope you(the staff) will use all the skills and knowledge you have to help us to have as non-interventive birth as possible. We look forward to suggestions on positions, massage techniques, etc etc

And instead of writing

~I prefer not to be separated from my birth partner during hospital stay. I would encourage couples to write: my partner really helps me stay calm and focused and we want to stay together continuously.
other possible edits.
I hope to drink liquids and eat fruit – to keep myself hydrated.
I want my membranes to release on their own – even if that means the baby is born in the caul
I hope to be active and upright but also patient and let labor find a rhythm of its own – as long as the baby is doing fine I am fine laboring on and on and on. :)
We would love suggests on non-pharmacological ways of dealing with the pain. Please note in our chart that “patient prefers not to be offered pain medication”. We do have a code word (which we will share) that when I say that it means “don’t talk me out of pain medications anymore” But until that time, please use all your skills in offering alternatives to medications.
We would love your suggestions as to where the best place to walk is and hope you will help us make sure we have access to a ball, an armless chair, a rocking chair. We have brought our own yoga mats.
We look forward to intermittent monitoring.
We are very concerned about privacy and hope you will help us limit the numbers who are present to just our support team, the doctor/midwife and the minimum number of nursing staff.
Thanks for being part of our support team on this special day – one that we will never forget – the day we welcomed our baby.

Gotta go – don’t know why I am writing you such a lengthy email……sorry I got on a roll of thinking about birth plans! Too often as i have travelled around to various hospitals, staff sometimes admit to equating length of birth = chances of cesarean. And that’s sad when they are seen as a barrier – not a communication tool.

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