Tuesday, 01 July 2008

• Birth Wish Part II

  by Nurse Jenna

  I wanted to follow back up on my original posting Birth Plan or Birth Wish? with some additional thoughts. Previously I discussed a few things that I said I did not think needed to be explicitly detailed in a birth plan because they were not usually part of routine care. Many of you commented back that you felt such things were typical practices among their providers (such as episiotomies), which brought about the discussion of how important it is for good communication throughout your prenatal visits, especially as you approach your delivery date.

  What I did want to share were some things I thought would be particularly useful to put in writing to bring with you to the hospital if you had special requests (as they may not be routine and it may be helpful to remind the staff so it does not get forgotten, or in case there are people involved who did not partake in the discussions you had during your office visits).

  Some of the things I would find useful to know you wanted if I was the nurse helping to care for you and your baby:

  • I do not want to be asked about pain medication. I will request it if I want it.
  • If I have a healthy pregnancy, I am requesting intermittent fetal monitoring when possible(understanding under what conditions this is possible and is not permitted in the hospital).
  • I would like these people to be in the room during the delivery (insert people here). I would like the following people to be asked to remain in the waiting room until someone goes to let them know otherwise.
  • I would not like phone calls in the room.
  • I would prefer to push in an “uncoached” manner (or vice versa, I like a lot of support).
  • I would like my baby to be wiped off before I see him or her (The assumption is typically you would want to see your baby right away, but this is not always the case and we understand).
  • I would like the weighing of the baby to be delayed. This could also apply to bath, medications, etc. (The assumption also is that you are excited to know how much your baby weighs).
  • I would like family members kept out until I specifically request them after the delivery (It is hard to keep grandma out, but if we know, we can give you and baby alone time!).

  These are a few of many things I think are genuinely helpful to providing care that will give you the kind of birth experience you want, whether it be intimate and private, or surrounded by your family members. Like I said before, a lot of labor and delivery cannot be controlled, but we genuinely try our best to help out with the things that can be.

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