NCT

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Birthing plan

Hello all,

I am currently 24 weeks pregnant and starting to really think about my birthing plan..... I am very keen on having a water birth and would just like to ask if anyone had any advise or stories about how your water birth went and if it’s a good idea or not. Thank you in advance 😊

22 Replies

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Congratulations hun. Im looking forward to your replies. Im a week behind you. Im considering a home water birth the more i look into it the more i feel it'll be the best thing. 💗😘

Aww that sounds lovely..... again I’m after advise about whether to have a home water birth or in the hospital. I’m living near Warwick at the minute and bluebell birthing centre in the hospital looks amazing!! I’m going to enquire about having a walk around to view it all and get advise as not 100% how it all works. Best of luck, I hope we get some good answers 😊 xx

I just realized i replied to your previous post regarding your 12 week scan.💗 Is this your first baby? I know you sadly had a mmc before 😔. I think if its your first you'll be fine. To do what ever you wish no medics will try stand in your way providing you've had a smooth pregnancy xx

This is my first baby yes, and I am very nervous about giving birth, it’s all becoming so real. A lot of people are asking me about my birth so I guess it’s time to start planning 😊 and that’s good to hear. Are you having a boy or girl? Or are you going to wait until you give birth? Congratulations by the way xx

Awwww congratulations hun 😊. Thank you!! It is a nerve wracking thing its gonna be the biggest thing you've ever done!! I'll advise you like others have advised me to look into hynobirthing it'll help you get into a good place in your mind for which ever way you give birth. There's a pack a lady recommended to me forgot for the life of me what it's called but its real good ilk find it. I wish i could wait im to eager to know im very pink n blue 😂 we're having another girl hugely blessed with a girl and boy already!! What about you have you found out or keeping the gender a surprise? Xx. Positive birth company. Digital pack xx

Ah that’s great thank you, I will look into hynobirthing. And we’re having a boy, I wouldn’t have been able to wait..... we had a small gender reveal planned for us and I had to wait less than 24 hours to find out and it was killing me not knowing 😂. And how lovely, 2 girls and a boy is a good mix 😊xx

Awwww congratulations hun!!💙 I know what you mean im really impatient, did you have a feeling what the gender might Be? i had a feeling from the beginning she was a girl. Im calling mine the A Team all their names begin with an A 😂.xx

I did have a feeling we were having a boy yes..... my partner has 2 girls already and everyone hoped for a boy but assumed I was having a girl..... I kept my thoughts to myself just incase 😁 I felt bad hoping for a certain gender. And no way!! My partners daughters names both begin with an R and we are going to do the same with our boy...., we both love the name Ralph ♥️ we have the R team 😂xx

Awww wow. R Team😂 Ralph that's really nice!! Just put a deposit on my pram and I've only gone and put the wrong email address a🤯 and didn't realise till i made payment. Hopefully i can sort it. Im suffering with bad insomnia these days. But need rest I've got hospital in the morning. Hope you get some replies as it seems we've been filling up the post replies 😂 xx

Ooops, my brain has been all over the place so don’t worry about it..... I’m lucky enough to have family who want to contribute towards things like the push chair. I’m glad as got made redundant because of covid 😞.

Good luck with the hospital, get some rest too. And yeah I hope so too, been lovely chatting though xx

Bless you lovely so sorry about your job. 😔 covid has a lot to answer for!! I work from home baking business luckily. Nice you've got family though to help mine wouldn't even when they could.

Thanks hun will chat soon. I'll pm you seen as though we're so close in our pregnancy dates. Night night hun 💗😘

Yes please do, it’s nice having someone to share with and we are going to be experiencing things at the same time 😊 sorry for the late reply, hope today went well xx

Tbh I opted for a water birth at my local hospital for my first they only had one and it was in use on the day just my luck also I did end up being fully monitored for the birth towards active labour so there may be times your in and out the pool depending on baby I would think.i guess it depends how baby is doing in the end wether you end up having a full water birth or not and provision in hospital you could try do it at home also but you may want someone to assist you with birth not sure how that works if a midwife can come to you .all the best .wether it's a good idea is down to you I had my heart set on one and it just didn't happen for me but if I think back now to me wanting a water birth I would have done it at home because you can most likely just get on with it soon as contractions start also it looks so much easier cause water eases the pain

I had a nearly water birth spent hours in there. It is nice, don’t get me wrong it is no miracle pain relief. I ended up getting out as baby kept popping back up after each contraction. The most depressing feeling! He was born on a matt on the floor about 5 minutes after I got out, just needed a change of position. I chose a midwife led unit as I wanted to have the medical support near by if need be. My midwife also talks about birth preferences rather than plan as you definitely can’t plan it. I’m now 35 weeks with number 2 and really hoping for the same sort of birth I had the first time. It was such a positive experience. Good luck with it all.

I planned one but had pre Labour rupture of membranes at 34 weeks, went into labour at 35 weeks, had to be monitored all through, (including internal monitoring on baby's scalp) and had to stop moving around and lie down flat as was asked to by the midwives (maybe so monitoring picked up better, can't remember why) then needed hormone drip to speed things up which is super painful as not your bodies natural labour, epidural and epesiotomy as baby was in distress. Spent the next fortnight feeling a total failure. Before hormones settled enough for me to accept that 1. It wasn't my fault and 2. I had a healthy baby. Other people will go on about how they breathed their baby out with no pain relief, just some nice music and aromatherapy etc. But everyone is different and left to nature bad things do happen to mums and babies.

So try for a water birth but my advice would be don't get too fixated on a plan. It's not about the birth experience it is about getting a healthy human out of you and into the world so you can start the rest of your lives together. And that's the amazing bit.

I think the thing with birth plans is you need to have it in the back of your head although you can plan what you’d like, One you have no idea how it’s going to go and two if you haven’t been through it before (and even if you have!) it might not be right when you’re there. I have two babies- first time around I wrote a birth plan and put I wanted to be in the pool. I spent a long time in the pool which I did enjoy but had to come out for an assisted birth with forceps when things didn’t progress. Second time around I didn’t write a birth plan and went for a pool again, but I was too hot on the day and really didn’t enjoy it so came out and gave birth on a bed not too long after coming out. So I’d say just try and keep an open mind and have a rough idea what you might like, but be flexible.

It is a good idea to have an answer to the various questions they’ll ask though- like do you want your partner to cut the cord, do you want the injection to pass the placenta quicker or are you happy giving your baby the vitamin D injection etc.

Good luck! Xx

i wanted to have a water birth and in the end just didnt bother writing a birth plan. good job i didnt as i got induced and ended up having an emergency c section.

i would just be mindful that if you write one the chances are low on it all going to plan so don’t dwell on it too much. at first i was upset i didnt have a natural labour but at the same time this was my first baby and i was bricking it to give birth. i felt more at ease having the c section because of that (crazy i know) xx

Thank you all for your replies, I will keep in mind every other option with regards to birthing as suggested because I know I won’t be in control when and where it all happens. I am just hoping all will go smoothly and I will be able to have some say in how everything goes🙈 because this is my first and I have no idea what I am in for it would be nice to go forward knowing I have an idea and some understanding on water births. I look forward to hearing more stories if anyone has any 😊xx

I think it's a great idea to have a plan of how you'd like it to go. However and whatever you choose to do. I think it's a good idea to have a plan and then all your detours covered for the just in cases.

I ended up having an induction booked due to a slow down in growth, which wasn't what I'd initially planned but I was still able to take ownership of it and make my own choices about the things I could choose during the induction. I did lots of research on what would happen and felt very reassured by knowing the process.

I knew I wanted an epidural if the pessary didn't start labour and I had to have the hormone drip which I had, they did delayed cord clamping and we did skin to skin immediately after she was born, so although it wasn't my first choice, it was still a really positive experience.

I think if you want a home birth with birth pool and you've had a low risk pregnancy, it sounds perfect, it's probably the most lovely way to bring a baby into the world, but if circumstances change you just have to be flexible to change and adapt your plan and ask your midwife as many what ifs, so you know what would happen in different circumstances so you're confident you can adapt and change your plan as needed. Good luck xx

I was after a water birth for my recent pregnancy, but because baby was induced this option went out the window - i ended up with an emergency c section!!

Hiiii, my son is 2 years old now and when I was pregnant with him I dreamed and planned for only a water birth but when the time came it wasnt possible to have one and I was so so disappointed. My advice for you is to research every kind of labour and birth just in case things dont go your way, then at least you'll be somewhat prepared for whatever happens, also use your birth plan as guidance only, dont set your heart on your labour going exactly to how you planned it. I'm currently 26 weeks with my second and I'm still dreaming of that water birth but have learnt the hard way to just go with what the midwives say and dont have any expectations of it all going to plan. Best of luck for when the time comes x

I would love a water birth with soothing music and aromatherapy oils (would have to heat these as assume can't be in the water). I have to have a c section unfortunately due to a genetic condition but think a water birth would be great if all goes to plan. I do it in hospital to make sure help is on hand if needed. Your midwife will be able to advise you x