Birth Planning Sessions
Your Birth Plan can be a major contributory factor to peace of mind during your labour.
Once you and your partner know what you would ideally like to have for your labour and delivery, you then need to make your birth plan so that everyone else knows.
This should be discussed with your midwife between your 32nd and 36th weeks of pregnancy. In this way there will be no surprises for you or your hospital/ GP/ Obstetrician in what choices you have made or need to make. Your midwife can also tell you the amount of flexibility the hospital/birthing centre allows couples in their personal choices. After discussion, you can make several copies of your Birth Plan.
Your hand held hospital notes often have birth planning areas for you to complete, but you can fill them out separately and they can then be attached to your notes for your labour midwife to read and discuss. Please be aware that Birth Plans are not formal contracts but more like a wish list and can be changed even in labour. None of us know how we will cope in labour or what circumstances may arise.
We at Storks believe that our role as Midwives is to empower YOU. With this confidence and preparation we hope that your labour will be everything that you want it to be.
Ideas for discussion:
- Induction of labour
- Admission / when to call the midwife
- Mobility during labour
- Pain relief/epidural
- Spontaneous or artificial rupture of membranes
- Episiotomy
- Delivery of the placenta
- Cutting the cord
- Eating and drinking in labour
- Fetal monitoring – intermittent or continuous?
- Breastfeed after birth
- Forceps/vacuum extraction (Ventouse)/Caesarian Section
- Various positions in labour
- Various relaxation techniques, music, aromatherapy, massage
- What happens if things go out of normality
- Choices you will be asked to make and consent to