I am seeing a midwife too, in a hospital setting. This is my first, so no prior experience. I haven't made a firm decision yet on whether I'd like to be medicated or not. So far, the only thing on my birth plan is: let the baby's cord stop pulsating before cutting it. I don't think I'll write anything out for the midwife, I'll just tell her.

I am going the OB/hospital route, and am not afraid to admit that I am 100% for an epidural because I don't like to be in a lot of pain. I am also the type of person that really needs adequate rest. If I don't get enough rest I get run down and sick quite easily, and I hope the epidural would allow me the opportunity to get a bit of sleep. I know I will be tired after the birth regardless of how things go, but I'd still like to try to be as rested as possible!

While I trust that the doctor will do what is right for the baby/myself, I want to avoid forceps and the vacuum. I know an adult who has permanent nerve damage to one whole side of his face because he was delivered using forceps, and while it is rare for that to happen, it freaks me out. But, if the doctor really feels these tools are needed, I trust her.

I know with birth you have to go with the flow and not everything will go as planned, but here are the things I am NOT flexible with (assuming healthy baby/vaginal delivery) - I want my baby passed to me right away when it is delivered, and I want to try to breastfeed ASAP. I also want myself and/or DH to be present during all of the baby's tests/exams, and the baby will stay in our room overnight. My doctor and I have discussed tearing and episiotomies a few times. I know a few women with tearing horror stories (ie. require follow up surgery), which my doctor has assured me are rare. She has also told me most women do tear and that it is better than being cut. However, if she sees a tear going towards the front of the body she always make a cut at the back end because front tears are near impossible to fix correctly (too many nerve endings). She has my full permission to do an episiotomy in that situation!

Anyway, I agree with RBX that it is good to be open-minded with the birth plan. I think I'm going in mostly open-minded and flexible, with a few non-flexible requests. :laugh:

Most of the births here are midwife led, unless there are complications.

With birth plans, remember that it is a rough guide of what you would like to happen. Its not set in stone, so will change according to your circumstances. It gives the professionals some guidance with regards to your preferences regarding feeding, cutting the cord etc.

Keep an open mind about everything, especially pain relief. I think until you are in the throes of labour it is very difficult to know how you will cope with pain. So have pain relief as an option. I ended with zero pain relief as I was induced and the birth progressed very quickly and my daughter was back to back! ouch! the only pain relief i had was my own tens machine which was my saviour. Did i want an epidural? heck yeah! but i was in active labour for 3hrs so not enough time for anything really. I learnt that day how high my pain threshold was!

I was sure I wanted to do an unmedicated birth with midwives. Then, a few weeks ago, I changed my mind. I hate being in pain, and I don't know if I could endure the labor without an epidural.

You never know; you may be able to do it without! Just keep an open mind.

I was told that if you said you didn't want it and then changed your mind, you'd have to wait longer to get it because it would not be set up for you :noway: That scared me into being very vocal about the fact that I was happy to have it if the pain got unbearable.

Just remember that you always make the call. No one can force it on you, but if you really want it, don't let anyone talk you out of it, either.

I was sure I wanted to do an unmedicated birth with midwives. Then, a few weeks ago, I changed my mind. I hate being in pain, and I don't know if I could endure the labor without an epidural.

I'm not afraid of pain. I've dealt with a lot of physical pain before (dual kidney infections that went untreated for a week - never took any pain meds for it). Plus, I think with a good midwife as a coach, I can work through any discomfort.

My main concern is being immobile for hours and hours and hours on end. That would drive me insane.

Eek, that sounds awful! I'm so sorry you went through that :frown: But yeah, if you did that and didn't have any pain meds, you might be in your element if you're moving around and being encouraged, especially knowing that it is truly temporary and that the outcome is so good!

Definitely ask your doctor if she uses the forceps and/or vacuum. Supposedly they've both gone out of style, so to speak, according to my OB. You may find that she will really hesitate unless it's truly necessary.

But yes, DO insist upon spending time with your baby right away! I really think that messed us up for nursing, and I was preached to by so many people about not having him room in with me so that I could rest. In retrospect it was a horrible idea and made coming home a HUGE lifestyle shock, so I had a really, really rough time when we got there. So being in the mindset of rooming in but having the option to change your mind is definitely the way to go.

Oh, and I did tear a tiny bit. (I had one stitch, and my OB wasn't even sure it was necessary but did it to be safe.) She doesn't cut unless, like you said, it appears that a woman is about to tear upwards. My sister had an episiotomy by the same OB, and she healed fine. Her OB told her that it would likely have been much, much worse if she hadn't cut her. Some doctors do it as a rule, though, which I think is terrible. I mean, I had so little tearing that an episiotomy would have been much worse.

I asked my doctor about the forceps and vacuum at my last appt, after hearing about a friend of a friend who's OB used forceps during a c-section (!!!) at the hospital where I'm delivering. My doctor said she doesn't use them unless absolutely necessary.

I don't know if all hospitals in Canada do it, but where I'm currently living (and where I'm from) your baby is kept in the room with you during the night. I doubt any nurses would come in in the middle of the night and take the baby, but just in case, I've included it in my birth plan.

I think episiotomies were the norm back int he 80's, but I still hear about the odd one today. Just like forceps and the vacuum, it all depends on the circumstances. I've started perineum massage, hoping to decrease the likelihood of a tear, but who knows if it will actually work. :ohwell:

I was sure I wanted to do an unmedicated birth with midwives. Then, a few weeks ago, I changed my mind. I hate being in pain, and I don't know if I could endure the labor without an epidural.

I'm not afraid of pain. I've dealt with a lot of physical pain before (dual kidney infections that went untreated for a week - never took any pain meds for it). Plus, I think with a good midwife as a coach, I can work through any discomfort.

My main concern is being immobile for hours and hours and hours on end. That would drive me insane.

You could ask for a walking epidural; helps with pain but a lower dose so you can still move around. That's the route I'd go if I decided I needed something. My appts are with a certified nurse midwife, but the baby will be delivered by the OB in the military hospital as I don't have a choice on that matter unless the baby comes really fast and there's no time to get to the base 35-45 mins away depending on traffic. I'm initially going for a natural birth and will have a doula present to help advocate my wishes to the OB at the hospital, but knowing that not everything may go the way I want I'm open to deviations in my plan.

I've found a few birth plan templates online and have talked with a coworker who's expecting her second. Since her first birth is really fresh in her mind she's helping to explain the items I don't quite understand, and I'm also doing research to decide if it's right for me. I plan to go over my plan with my doula & husband to make sure we're all on the same page come delivery day, and I'm making sure it's written down so it's not forgotten during the moment.

Has anyone used a doula? One of my friends swears by hers and says it was the best money she ever spent. Just curious about other people's experiences.