My Plan for My Birth Plan

A few weeks ago I was having lunch with my friend Kate, who is a mom of two adorable kids, a doula, and an all around expert on the subject of motherhood, and the topic of birth plans came up. I told her that after experiencing child birth once I didn’t see much sense in putting together a birth plan for baby number two – whatever was going to happen was going to happen so as long as I ended up in the hospital and under the care of professionals I assumed everything would just play out from there. Having gone through {natural!} childbirth herself twice Kate understood but encouraged me to have some form of plan laid out. That’s when she brought up the idea of a birth letter. Less formal than a birth plan, a birth letter includes items that are important to you in a conversational tone. A few days later she sent me an outline of what a birth letter might look like and I loved it. It seemed like something I would totally feel comfortable giving to the medical staff upon being admitted to the hospital and like something I would like to receive if I was taking care of a mom-to-be-in-labor. Since I’m the sharing type I’m going to share my letter with you and then breakdown a few of the topics just in case there are questions. Please feel free to use this for yourself if it’s something you connect with!

My Birth Letter

May, 2018

Dear Care Team:

Thank you for being part of the journey as we welcome our new baby! Outlined here are the details that are important to me while I am in your care. Please review and let me know of any questions.

This is my third pregnancy and second baby. We do not know the gender. Our 3 year old daughter, Annabelle, is at home waiting to hear the news that she is a big sister!

My hope is to labor as long as I am comfortable without pain medication, and will ask for an epidural when I am ready for it. Throughout the process, I welcome any advice and support including suggestions, words of encouragement, and a general positive attitude.

My support will be my husband, Ken Braga.

Once the baby is born, I would like Ken to tell me the gender. I would like to do skin to skin contact immediately, for as long as possible. I would like to do delayed cord clamping until the cord is done pulsating, if possible. If for some reason the cord needs to be cut immediately, I would like to do public blood donation. Ken would like to cut the cord, and is excited to do so!

My baby can be given the eye prophylaxis, as well as the vitamin K and the hepatitis B injections. If the baby is a boy we will do the circumcision at the hospital.

I plan to breastfeed the baby and again welcome any advice and support to achieve this goal.

Thank you in advance for your care during this important milestone in our lives!

Signed,
Liz Braga (mom to be)

Let’s Break it Down

May, 2018

Dear Care Team:

Thank you for being part of the journey as we welcome our new baby! Outlined here are the details that are important to me while I am in your care. Please review and let me know of any questions.

I’ll update the month next week, I just wanted to be prepared and factually accurate should I go into labor early.

This is my third pregnancy and second baby. We do not know the gender. Our 3 year old daughter, Annabelle, is at home waiting to hear the news that she is a big sister!

I love this personal inclusion. While the only medically important topic is likely the part about me already having a child at home, it seems like more of a getting to know you when written like this.

My hope is to labor as long as I am comfortable without pain medication, and will ask for an epidural when I am ready for it. Throughout the process, I welcome any advice and support including suggestions, words of encouragement, and a general positive attitude.

For the record, this was also my plan for Annabelle’s birth but I quickly learned that my pain tolerance is not as high as I thought and upon being admitted to the hospital couldn’t wait for the epidural. I like being able to keep the ball in my court though, so I’m not being asked or pressured by the nursing staff. I’ll let them know when I’m ready for it!

My support will be my husband, Ken Braga.

You know, the guy standing next to me.

Once the baby is born, I would like Ken to tell me the gender. I would like to do skin to skin contact immediately, for as long as possible. I would like to do delayed cord clamping until the cord is done pulsating, if possible. If for some reason the cord needs to be cut immediately, I would like to do public blood donation. Ken would like to cut the cord, and is excited to do so!

This to me is the real meat of the letter. These are the things I was also the most passionate about with Annabelle’s birth. Ken telling me that Annabelle was a girl is probably my most favorite memory ever and I cannot wait for that to happen again! Skin to skin contact is super important to me, I want our bonding to happen immediately and for as long as possible until baby needs to be cleaned up. We chose to do the delayed cord clamping with Annabelle because of the benefits to the baby. Of course if it’s not possible the baby’s health is our first priority – which is why we’ve also included the part about donating the cord blood if this baby is not able to benefit from it. Oh and Ken actually wouldn’t like to cut the cord {not his thing} so I have to update that part!

My baby can be given the eye prophylaxis, as well as the vitamin K and the hepatitis B injections. If the baby is a boy we will do the circumcision at the hospital.

We fully support all of the medical processes that are procedure at our hospital. We’ve already decided that the baby will be circumcised if it is a boy, which is a very personal choice.

I plan to breastfeed the baby and again welcome any advice and support to achieve this goal.

I’m hoping that nursing is like riding a bike and it just comes back to me but should we need any help at all I will fully utilize the advice of the nurses and lactation consultants on staff.

Thank you in advance for your care during this important milestone in our lives!

Signed,
Liz Braga (mom to be)

Please lord let this be as quick and painless as possible {for all of us}.

Love, me.