Do you have birth plan made out? Have you given it to your practitioner? Wanna share?

I have mine made out and hope so badly that I can have it work out the way I hope. I would really like a home birth but I am unsupported with it and living in a state that midwives are illegal. So I am stuck in a hospital birth centre.

But I still hope for med free, no episiotomy and intermittent monitoring.

We did have a birth plan, we did try to stick to it... but it didn't really work out.

Here's what went "wrong" in our case. We did the "Bradley" method (it's like Lamaze, but they try to focus on doing things more naturally), on the recommendation of one of my wife's college friends. One of the things they drill into you is that hospitals like to do things in a "production line" fashion to keep them efficient. This doesn't always mean that you get the best care... as a patient, you have the right to insist "we're doing things this way, or we're doing things that way." Now that's all well and good, but my wife also got it into her head that the biggest hospital in the area (it has one of the highest delivery rates per year in the US) would be the best. Of course, they wanted to handle her delivery in a "production line" fashion, so while the care was very good, they still did a few things that we didn't want.

For example, my wife was in bed the whole time she was in labor. There's no reason for that other than the fact that it lets them hook up the monitors once and leave 'em in place. Another example is that my wife didn't want an episiotomy, but they did one anyway to save a few minutes.

I guess the best suggestion I have is to find a doctor that's willing to go with your birth plan, knows about it way ahead of time, and is supportive of it.

I'd really like to use a midwife if I could. I have some friends who are midwives and I really think that would be a nice way to have a child, as I hate hospitals. And the hospital wouldn't like me much. I'm a my way or the highway type person, so if they tried to do something I hadn't agreed to I'd be quite irate and unmanageable. Fortunately living where I do its pretty easy to find more holistic thinking doctors who are willing to work with you. Our local hospital that does deliveries has an amazing staff as well. I think if I were in a hospital I'd want my birth plan in writing and on my chart, just in case.

Midwives are not allowed in this state, so the best that I could hope for is a doula. And in truth I cannot afford that.

I had a birth plan the first time around and it worked out just fine. But that was a different hospital.

Any suggestions for having the hospital staff stick to my plan would be appreciated.