I had mommies in my community asking me how to make a Birth Plan. In the Philippines, mainly in Iloilo City, my hometown, birth plan is still a very uncommon concept for pregnant mommies.
Birth Plan is a document a pregnant mother (together with her husband if husband is very involved with the whole pregnancy) prepares before giving birth to be given to the medical team that will be assisting on child delivery.
Child birth is one of the amazing and beautiful time in a woman’s life. But it is also one of the scariest and it puts a woman in her most vulnerable state. Scary especially to obsessive-compulsive women who prefers to be in control of the situation. The thing is anything or everything can happen in the delivery table. It is all in God’s hands. But still a pregnant mommy can still have some control over the situation. Enter the Birth Plan…
Below is a sample of my Birth Plan:
To: Caregivers at ———- Hospital
(Name of OB-GYNE doctor and Pediatric doctor)
Obstetrical nursing staff of ——— Hospital
Pediatric nursing staff of ——— Hospital
From: Name of Mother & Father
We have chosen to give birth at the —– Hospital because of their outstanding facility and great staff. We are requesting your help to attain our goals and have a happy, healthy birth. In the event of complications, we will give our full cooperation after an informed discussion with the doctor and private consideration between mother and father.
First Stage of Labor:
• Those to be present at all times at the labor and birth: Husband
• No male staff please
Second Stage Labor :
• For epidural anesthesia once on active labor
• Allows induction of labor if deemed necessary
• Allows episiotomy
• Please do not use vacuum or foreceps
Third Stage Labor:
• If labor won’t progress and may need to perform caesarian section, pls do pfannenstiel (bikini) incision
• Plans to do breastfeeding; no formula milk, theeters, milk bottles please
• Perform circumsion for baby after birth
We thank you in advance for your support and kind attention to our choices. We look forward to a wonderful birth.
——————-Father
——————- Mother
——————- Physician
It is important that when you are making a birth plan, you have done your own research too. It may be easier for me because I am a medical professional. But it is best to go through the pregnancy and delivery with proper knowledge of what you will be expecting. So be aware of the first, second and third stages of labor. My birth plan is quite short unlike some but you can go wild with all your preferences in your birth plan e.g internal examination will be done infrequently or please allow this music when I am delivering my baby. But not too wild also that you will get a reputation of being a troublesome and annoying patient. Keep in mind this is still a new concept for some hospitals and medical practitioners. This is very helpful for mommies who doesn’t want to feel helpless during one of the most important day of her life and for mommies who plans to breastfeed. Even armed with a birth plan, child birth is very unpredictable so you need also to be flexible. Pray. Prayers is always the best safety net. It can move mountains.
Good luck and advance congratulations to all preggy mommies out there. If you have any questions or more updates about what happened after childbirth ( f you are not following this blog, I have a 4months old baby boy now), drop me a line below or follow me my blog.
Or you can,
“Like” my Facebook page LITTLE MISS HONEY
Follow me on Instagram littlemisshoney
Tweet me on Twitter @honeymd1979
Follow me on GooglePlus Little Honey
If you have any questions with me, you can email me at littlemisshoneyblog@gmail.com.