An OB's Birth Plan

I wanted to update...

Here I sit holding a healthy almost 4 month old baby boy and part of me wants to send a thank you card to this doctor because if he hadn't been so extreme I probably would have had a hospital birth and almost everything he listed would have been done because that's just the way things are at hospitals here and it's hard to argue when you're in labor. I was so irritated with the hold OB attitude after his "birth plan" that I went almost to the complete opposite and had a midwife assisted birth in an extremely low tech birth center. Toward the end (I went to 41+5) I had many moments where I wished I had stayed so I would have someone who would "enable" me to risk my health, the babies health, and my low intervention birth and just get that kid out of there. It's hard to resist going the super intervention route when you're exhausted, uncomfortable and just done being pregnant and it's a pity doctors are so ready to take advantage of this or at least ready to humor you without disclosing the risks. As it was I went to the birth center at 12:30pm (after 24 hours of steady labor), had him at 3:20pm in tub with nothing hooked to me and doppler monitoring done after every few contractions, no pushing instructions and I delivered an 8#15oz baby on my side in tub without a tear and went home at 6:20pm. It was amazing that left almost entirely to my own devices (the only thing they had to make me do was drink water in between contractions I never would have thought of it by that point) I knew exactly what my body needed to do even if it went against their advice. I prolonged the pushing stage by raising the pitch of my screams so that not every contraction would be too productive and I think that's what allowed me to deliver him with no tears even though I have a problematic episiotomy scar. I only had a "skid mark" or two and didn't even need to use the peri bottle when I urinated. I don't think this birth hurt any less than my previous two hospital births but it was just so much better.

Thanks all -especially to the wonderful L & D nurses who advocate for their patients and not just for the OB and the hospital.