Yes, I'm old and rickety...but, I HATE birth plans!! Especially those that include NO vag exams unless she needs to push (wth), or NO IV access (wth), or NO fetal monitoring (WTH!!) etc.....
It just annoys me to no end that a girl comes in and tries to tell me what is best for her and her unborn baby, and totally interferes with efforts to keep her and her baby safe.
Then there is the sig other that really annoys me by being the patients mouth piece. "No, she doesn't need pain meds", or "No, she doesn't want to lay off of her back".(when having variables down to 60x60...UGGGG!!
These people need to just have their babies at home, and leave my nursing license out of it!!!
Anyone else bothered by birth plans? Maybe it's just me.
Women should not be induced unless there is a medical indication or serious social considerations. Otherwise, the path of intervention is paved. Any woman invested in a natural birth should decline induction unless merited. And convenience doesn't count.
I have to agree. Definitely with the last part. "I want induced on xyz day and don't want to feel any pain, but still want a natural birth."
That's the downside to going natural. Babies don't coordinate with everyone elses' schedules. Families have to realize that it is a trade-off. Would I love to know the day an hour dd is coming so I can plan better? Yep. Would I love to be induced @ 36-37 weeks so I don't have to be pregnant anymore? Ditto. Would I love to have a tax deduction for 2008 instead of having to wait until next year? Uh-huh. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that.
Women should not be induced unless there is a medical indication or serious social considerations. Otherwise, the path of intervention is paved. Any woman invested in a natural birth should decline induction unless merited. And convenience doesn't count.
Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case as much these days. It seems a matter of the squeaky wheel getting the grease. Also, docs only have certain OR days, or deliver on certain days, or the docs (or the parents) want the baby born before they go on vacation to the golf resort. I know moms who have griped and whined that their regular OB scheduled a vacation around their delivery dates. Personally, if I'm in labor, I don't care who walks in for five minutes and catches the baby. (As long as he/she is qualified.) I really don't think you're going to want to hold it in at that point for "your" doctor.
Just wanted to add that a few months ago a couple came in with a birth plan that included (among 100 other things) not wanting their baby to get ID bracelets! It's just frustrating when people come in and literally EVERYTHING is a huge battle, and the focus shifts off of what's best for the baby to bizarre things that the parents deem important but haven't fully researched.
I have worked in this area for 23 yrs. I have seen my share of bad outcomes. My job is to get a healthy newborn (and Mom) out of the deal, not a dead one, or one that is disabled for it's entire life.
How about someone coming into the ER with chest pain,sob,pain in L arm, that has an "MI plan"? Or maybe someone coming in unable to speak, drooping on one side of their face, and unable to communicate but has their "CVA plan"? Or, a parent with a sick child that has their "menengitis plan". It's rediculous. My view is...if you come to the hospital for any reason you should expect the experts to take care of you doing what they know to do. Otherwise, stay home!
(dodging daggars)
First of all, childbirth is natural. An MI is not, so of course it would be ridiculous to have an "MI Plan"... you can't even compare the two...
Second, out of curiosity....how many of those bad outcomes were during births that had interventions?" Generally, interventions lead to complications...
Just wanted to add that a few months ago a couple came in with a birth plan that included (among 100 other things) not wanting their baby to get ID bracelets! It's just frustrating when people come in and literally EVERYTHING is a huge battle, and the focus shifts off of what's best for the baby to bizarre things that the parents deem important but haven't fully researched.
Please! They were just ridiculous! :icon_roll Most birthplans aren't that off the wall. I seem to remember a couple like that in our childbirth class when I was pregnant with ds. I saw them at the grocery store this summer and ducked down the next aisle. :imbar:chair:
I think this was one of my most favorite birthplans to date:
Please! They were just ridiculous! :icon_roll Most birthplans aren't that off the wall. I seem to remember a couple like that in our childbirth class when I was pregnant with ds. I saw them at the grocery store this summer and ducked down the next aisle. :imbar:chair:
I think this was one of my most favorite birthplans to date:
"Yes, I'm old and rickety...but, I HATE birth plans!! Especially those that include NO vag exams unless she needs to push (wth), or NO IV access (wth), or NO fetal monitoring (WTH!!) etc....."
If the birth plan is reasonable, it shouldn't turn into a control issue.
"It just annoys me to no end that a girl comes in and tries to tell me what is best for her and her unborn baby, and totally interferes with efforts to keep her and her baby safe."
Again, if a patient has reasonable, flexible requests, that shouldn't bother you. Does it bug you because patients dare to presume to have some say in their care, or because women are just writting up plans without knowing what is in them in the first place?
I'm not being snarky, just trying to understand.
If a woman doesn't want VE's (for example) and things are stable, it shouldn't be such an issue . . .
Have you ever sat on a laboring patient with PIH who refused an IV access (not in her birth plan), and then seized? Not pretty.
Have you ever been in a deposition where a baby died because the patient came in in early labor having decels, but chose to leave AMA until she was in "active labor"(as per her birth plan) only to return the following day with no FHT's.
I could go on...trust me, I have my reasons for not liking birth plans.
I'm happy for anyone that has never had any bad outcomes, but I unfortunately have. I am not a control freak. I love my job, but let me do it!! That's all I'm saying.
The situations you mentioned above, cradlecrewer (esp the first) are good examples of unreasonable birth plans. I don't blame you for being upset about them.
How many more outcomes, though, have been mucked up because we intervened wrongly or too much? PPHs from retained frags because docs are yanking on the placenta to get it out within 5 minutes. Residents pulling a VE for 40 min. That's not 40 min total - that's 40 min of pulling. That kid's head looked like ground hamburger meat, no lie. Horrible.That baby died too. I could go on about what I've seen too.
I think people on both sides of the coin have their reasons for feeling the way they do, but birth is not a cut & dry process. Not for moms that come in with a 12 page plan, nor for those who didn't get prenatal care. I think all most moms want is to be heard.
That's just it, had you clarified that in the OP, I doubt you would have recieved such heated replies.
The extreme one's are annoying, but a little positive , non patronizing communication can go a long way.
I had a pregnancey loss two weeks ago, I was 25 wks.
The nurse I had treated me like I was five years old: telling me to use my "big girl words" instead of moaning when I was delivering my son! I wanted to tell her to ****, but I had other things on my mind.
Anyway, I know that most nurses are NOT like that, but this didn't exactly leave me a good image.
Sorry for the rant, I just fail to see how "horrible" birth plans are.
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Enjoy!
mamafeliz
56 Posts
Women should not be induced unless there is a medical indication or serious social considerations. Otherwise, the path of intervention is paved. Any woman invested in a natural birth should decline induction unless merited. And convenience doesn't count.