Preparing for the birth of your baby.

Examine the options that are available to you.

Questions to ask:

1. Do you want to have a home birth with no medical intervention?
2. Would you feel more comfortable in a medical setting like a Hospital or Birthing Centre?
3. Do you have a condition that would mean you have to have a Caesarean Section?

HOME BIRTH

This is a good choice if you have and uncomplicated pregnancy and would prefer to do things in a natural way
You need to ensure that you have a Midwife who is able to assist you at the time of birth.
Have a back up or emergency plan. We always hope everything goes as we wish but at the same time need to be aware of complications that could arise.
Do you want to use water to deliver in or as a method of pain relief? Consider hiring a birth pool ahead of time.
Identify the area in the home where you would like to deliver, consider the space available.
Once you have enrolled with a Midwife she will give a list of any supplies you will need to have on hand.


HOSPITAL BIRTH

This option gives you the security of having medical staff and interventions available but also allows you to attempt a normal vaginal delivery.
If you have a high risk pregnancy this is the one for you. Unfortunately, too often a hospital environment can lead to unnecessary interventions. That is why it is important to have a Birth Plan. A birth plan allows you to decide before labour on your ideal birth, and document those wishes. It is important to realise that it is basically a wish list as the health of mum and baby are the most important.
The advantage of a hospital birth is that you can, if you wish, take advantage of modern medicine to allow you to benefit from pain relief methods.
In hospital you could opt to use a narcotic like Pethidine or have an epidural anaesthetic.
Pethidine will dull pain but not alleviate it completely.
An epidural normally is associated with an absence of pain. Unfortunately it can also lead to an absence of the urge to push.


CEASARIAN SECTION.

This means that baby is born via an incision on the abdomen. Normally along the “bikini line”.
This is major surgery and can be done electively or as an emergency procedure.
Elective is when the decision for caesarean is made ahead of time and a date and time are scheduled.
Emergency is when a normal delivery has been the aim but something has occurred where the baby needs to be delivered via caesarean. Some of the reasons could be due to baby being in distress, the labour not progressing, and the baby too large for the mother’s pelvis.

What to expect Immediately after birth

What to expect Immediately after birth

1. Baby should be given to you immediately to admire ,cuddle and all the rest.There are some things the Midwives will want to check . At 1 and 5 minutes an Apgar sore will be given to baby.This is to assess whether baby has adapted to life outside the womb. There are 5 aspects baby is assessed for. Heart beat, Breathing,Movement, Response and Muscle tone.You may not even realize the "test" has occurred!

2. Delivery of placenta.Whilst you are admiring the fruit of your labour. the midwife will deliver the placenta . This either by active or passive or active method. The active method you receive an injection to speed delivery of placenta passive methods allows for the natural process.(Your Choice)

3. You will be given the opportunity to feed baby  after birth.The ideal time to feed baby is during the first hour after birth. Baby has the strongest suck reflex during this time.

4. After all this is done the Midwife will weigh and measure baby. At this time if you are in Hospital ID labels need to be applied.. Your will be offered an injection of vitamin K for baby. You will need to give permission. Vitamen K prevents bleeding disorders in the newborn.

Writing a birth Plan

Know your options

The first step in writing a birth plan is to find out what your options are.

Educate yourself about the options that are available. The ideal would be to attend childbirth education classes, a Midwife or Doula. Start the dialog.

Once you know what options are available to you, it is important to determine how you feel about the options. Some things will be very important, and others will seem small or unimportant. There is no right or wrong, it is simply a matter of understanding who you are and how you want things handled.

Your Birth Plan should be about expressing your hopes and expectations of how your labour and delivery should occur.

What are some of the things to put on your plan?

Starting or Speeding Labor-Do you want to be induced? Do you want medication to speed up labour?
Monitoring Labor- Do you want to be hooked up to a monitor or able to walk around?
Pain Relief-Do you want to use natural methods like relaxation and water or an epidural?
Positions-Sitting/walking/in bed?
Baby Care-Partner to cut cord? Breastfeed in delivery room?

So can you get what you want?
Investigate hospitals or birthing centres in your area,take your plan with you.
 Are they going to accommodate your wishes?
Does your partner/doula/midwife support your wishes?
If you have made choices that are not possible you need to reevaluate your decisions.

Regardless of the circumstances of your labor, use your birth plan to help you determine how you will react to labor.

I personally like to think of the Birth Plan as a wish list an expression of what I would prefer.

Ultimately a live healthy baby and mother are the most important outcome!

Put it into perspective when you apply for  a job has anybody ever asked your if you were born by vaginal delivery or Cesarean? Things can happen in labour.

My own birth plan was to have a home delivery preferably in water with my midwife.

I ended up as an emergency Cesarean after getting to 10cm dilated (ready to deliver)
Creating your Birth Plan