Writing a Kick-Ass Birthing Plan

Posted on 03 26, 2006 under Predad by Noodad | Comments

So you"re going to have a baby. If this is your first, listen up: no matter how intelligent you think you are, during labor your mind will turn to mush and you will go into autopilot mode. To give you an idea, besides the 2 births of my kids, the only other times I have felt this way was after the Sox won the series and the time a brick hit me on the head.

One of the most overlooked but potentially important things you should do before baby time is to write out a birthing plan with your wife. For those who don"t know, a birthing plan is a written out document that clearly designates your wishes for key decisions during labor. This includes decisions on pain treatments, special needs, and specific desires. It can be written out by hand, professionally printed, bound, and laminated, or anywhere in between.

 
You may be asking yourself, "Ok. Why this is important?" Remember I told you your mind is mush? The birth of your child is a crazy time as a dad. And you don"t have contractions coming every 5 minutes for 10 hours—imagine what your wife"s frame of mind is. Even if you don"t want to think about it, it is important for your wishes to be documented in case you or your wife is unable to pass the info along. Finally, most labors last a significant amount of time. Usually you will go through 2 shifts of nurses during your labor. A birthing plan prevents you from having to restate your wishes to 2 sets of people or having one nurse relay the message incorrectly to the next shift.

So what stuff do you put into it? The answer is everything you can possibly think of. Spell out in great detail and don"t be shy. If your wife needs to have a specific color thong on, when the baby is born (I"m not judging), then put it down. These details can include:

• Pain Treatment Desires: Does the mother wish to do a natural birth? Does the mother want an epidural as soon as she is medically able to get one? Or does she want the nurse to give her warning before the cutoff point for epidurals approaches so she can make a decision then? Does the mother always want a dog chew toy in her mouth? (Again, I don"t judge)
• Environment: Does the mother want a specific song or album playing during the birth? A specific picture in front of her face? The lights full bright or turned way down? Special Note: No candles are allowed
• Announcements and Duties: During our labor, my wife and I made it clear to the medical staff that I wanted to announce the gender of the baby to my wife and also cut the umbilical cord. These are things that you can also spell out in a birthing plan.
• Process: Does your wife want every decision to be brought to her by you? Instead of the medical staff? Do you want the baby to immediately breastfeed before the umbilical cord is cut? Does your wife want to tell the doctor what the name is? Put it all in there.
• Attendees: Is it important that the mother-in-law be present? Go for it. Your 16 year old cousin? Word of note: Your wife is going to be incredibly exposed during this process. Make sure you and your wife discuss a head of time how much she wants attendees to see.

Remember the medical staff will try to follow your wishes as best as possible as long as it doesn"t affect the safety of you, the mother, the baby and the other patients. So you may want to think twice about sacrificing chickens in the delivery room.

• Medical Info: You should also include the name of the OB/GYN, the pediatrician (if you have decided on one yet), contact phone numbers, drug allergies, medical insurance info, and your freebie five (just kidding)

So discuss all of these things beforehand with your wife. Write it all down. Clearly mark the cover, "Birthing Plan" and immediately put it in your labor bag. You are ready to roll.

Good luck man.

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