02 AAHCC Student workbook instructions for birth planning.
Description
This article is from the Birth Planning FAQ, by wnymph@FensEnde.com (Sabrina Cuddy) with numerous contributions by others.
02 AAHCC Student workbook instructions for birth planning.
(reprinted with permission (per Robert 9/26/94) - copyright 1989 AAHCC)
Step 1. Know Your Options
Include: Where will your baby be born?
When will you go to your birth place?
Will you and your coach ever be separated?
What prepping procedures will you go through?
How will the baby be monitored in labor?
Will you be free to move, walk, change positions at will?
Will there be time limits on the length of your labor or pushing?
What positions might you use to push?
How will you push?
Will you have an episiotomy?
Will you take pictures?
Will you breastfeed immediately?
Who will cut the cord? When will it be done?
Will the baby ever be taken from the parents?
When will you go home if you are in a hospital/birth center?
(you need to take some kind of class to know what the consequences of each of
these is...)
Step 2. Examine your feelings
Both mother and coach need to decide what things are important to
them and then discuss their feelings and make any necessary
compromises.
Step 3. Consider your priorities
List your shoices in order of priority - most important first.
This is how most medical people think.
Step 4. Evaluate your situation
Are your choices realistic? Are most of your choices openly
supported by your birth team? If not, will you compromise
or make other arrangements?
Step 5. Meet with your medical professsional
Make an appointment for both mother and coach to sit and talk
to your practitioner. Make a brief list of options to discuss
based on things you already know your MD or midwife supports.
Be sure to stress that this is a scenario for a normal labor
situation. Let the person state feelings about your choices.
Discuss emergency situations and find out how your provider
would handle them.
Step 6. Prepare for a positive experience
Be sure to phrase your final birth plan in a pleasant and
polite tone - do not present this as a list of demands. This
can help everyone feel more confident and increase your chances
of having the birth experience you want. Be sure to include
your flexibility should and unexpected situation arise!
Step 7. Be flexible
A beautiful birth experience is important and will have a
positive effect on the family which can last a lifetime.
However, the health and safety of mother and baby come first.
If an emergency does occur, crucial decisions effecting their
lives and health must be made quickly, and will require
cooperation, as you and your birth team work together.
The Cuddy birth plan for our first baby was a one page list of our
preferences for normal labor/postpartum and a second page for
complications. This was prefaced with a statement that we wanted a
natural birth and had prepared using the Bradley method.
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