Just curious...Do nurses hate Birth Plans?

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I was reading around, and saw quite a few posters who seem to think kinda badly of birth plans, and just curious as to why? Is it because the patient made one, or because some/all of the requests were unsafe or just plain stupid? I made a birthplan for my daughter, but all it really said was:

*NO ONE was to take her anywhere without either my husband or myself.

*If complications arose that I wanted her safety to take priority over mine.

*No forceps (I saw horrible pictures of babies who had these types of deliveries, and it terrified me!), but vacuum was ok if nessisary.

*NO ONE was to ASK me I wanted pain meds- I wanted to do drug free, and thought that if I had someone ask me, that it might have been too easy to accept.

Did I inadvertantly do something wrong by this??

Have a Great Day!

Chancie

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.

yup thats stupid and sounds like a spoiled brat wrote it. birth plans can go over board.. i think they are great if done correctly...

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Specializes in high risk OB.

I don't hate birth plans that are realistic. I do however have a problem with ones that interfere with pt safety. We can tell when a pt is making an educated decision with what she wants and expects for her labor and delivery. There are numerous web sites that many pts print birthplans off of and have no idea what any of it means to them in their labor and delivery. Pt's need to be somewhat flexible with their plans knowing that safety will always come first.

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Do you have any examples of unsafe/uneducated things you've seen on birthplans, and why they were bad?

Have a Great Day!

Chancie

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yup thats stupid and sounds like a spoiled brat wrote it. birth plans can go over board.. i think they are great if done correctly...

Um ok...how about trying to be constructive?? Instead of saying it's "stupid", wouldn't it be nicer and more helpful to say why you wouldn't think that what I wrote was the best choice, and what could have possibly made it better/more practical... There is really no need for insults.

Have a Great Day!

Chancie

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

I don't think your birth plan sounded stupid or like a spoiled brat....wanting your baby's safety over your own is hardly a spoiled brat...:uhoh21:

What some nurses have a problem with is the absolute rigidity of the birth plans that some of our uber-educated (mostly) primips come in with. Ex: "I MUST be allowed to breastfeed immediately after birth." [Well, what if your baby comes out forgetting to breathe?? What if he comes out with a respiratory rate of 100 and O2 sat of 70%?] I'm all for breastfeeding in the LDR room, believe me. I did it myself and feel that it does a lot to help breastfeeding go well later on. But a baby in respiratory distress has to breathe before he can nurse. That's just one example.

I think a birth plan is great and most women's are reasonable. But the key is that it has to be flexible. Sometimes unforeseen things can happen and you know what they say about the best-laid plans....

...but your few sentences making your wishes known are not unreasonable.

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Specializes in high risk OB.

1.) No IV- this is probably ok in a birthing center setting, but at the hospital I don't want to have to try to get an IV in during a critical time. We don't require IV fluids, just IV access.2.) No fetal monitoring. Again, in a birthing center this is more common. We have to have a reactive strip and then we can do intermittant monitoring through doppler. I work at a hospital where a majority of our pts are high risk. I need to know that mom and baby are both doing well. If I don't get an initial reactive strip I have to continuously monitor. I refuse to be responsible for a demise that could have been prevented.3.) No Medication- I have no problem with not asking a pt if they want pain medication. I will sit at a bedside and labor someone all day if I am able. Some medications are needed though depending on the situation. Magnesium Sulfate for preeclampsia is one that we use frequently. Sure a pt can refuse, but this isn't always in their best interest. Another would be antibiotics. We frequently use these to treat pt's with GBS.4.) Walking during labor- I am not against this, however there are times that this is not the best idea. Typically we allow pts with ruptured membranes up. If a reactive strip is not obtained or if the fetus is ballotable this is not a good idea.5.) Infant placed on mom at delivery- I love to do this but there are times that neonatal resuscitation is needed. I have had several moms become very angry that I had to take an infant to the warmer for PPV. 6.) No c-section- This is the most ridiculous. We try to avoid c-sections, but if we have a compromised mom or baby we don't have a choice. Many of these things are irritating just because pts don't want to be flexible. Most of these can be done if the situation allows. As I said before, if a woman is well educated she will realize that her birth plan may have to change.

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.
Um ok...how about trying to be constructive?? Instead of saying it's "stupid", wouldn't it be nicer and more helpful to say why you wouldn't think that what I wrote was the best choice, and what could have possibly made it better/more practical... There is really no need for insults.

Have a Great Day!

Chancie

sorry no offense . sorry sorry sorry .. i think it looks fine. take care ..

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Oh, this could get a little sticky; IMO we should be respectful of one another and their opinions.

With that said; I guess as long as the birth plan was realistic I wouldn't have a problem with it . . . and there were reasonable expectations and flexibility.

No one is supposed to go anywhere with baby without the parents. I can see how this would irritate the nurse, I wonder if that's really realistic. I guess I don't understand what you expected from the nurse . . . did you want her to come get you or your husband to escort baby from nursery back to your room and so forth??? Seems like alot of extra effort especially if the nurse has a couple of other patients.

Again, that's just my opinion.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.
No one is supposed to go anywhere with baby without the parents. I can see how this would irritate the nurse, I wonder if that's really realistic. I guess I don't understand what you expected from the nurse . . . did you want her to come get you or your husband to escort baby from nursery back to your room and so forth??? Seems like alot of extra effort especially if the nurse has a couple of other patients.

This is not unrealistic in many hospitals, especially ones that follow the Baby-Friendly Initiative. Even many that don't are moving to a rooming-in concept where the family unit stays together all the time and nursery is not even an option unless mom or baby is sick. Where I work we do encourage rooming-in. We can't allow parents in our nursery for HIPAA reasons, but we either a)bathe and weigh baby in the parents' room (a little extra effort but I try if parents want it); or b) allow them to come to the window and watch what we do with baby and right back he goes once we're done.

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I didn't even know what a birth plan was, but I'll bet you get some starry-eyed moms-to-be who give you these long lists of frivolous expectations and get angry when they aren't catered to. I remember seeing on tv about when Britney Spears (we all know how sensible and mature she is...haha) had some L&D room reserved and they were to have white roses all over the place and special catering and a certain brand of beauty products on hand and a bunch of other ridiculous crap and I thought to myself there are hungry kids in this world and all she can think about is some stupid little fantasy and I turned the channel.

Oh, by the way, the OP's birthing plan did not seem this way to me at all, quite the opposite. I would not want forceps used at all (though I can't understand the deal about no pain meds...I'm like, let me have it!)

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.

i am sorry to everyone i offended. i worked OB last night and we had a 22yr old g1 w/ a birthplan from heck. everytime we went to do something for this lady she would pull out the birth plan and say .. no thats not right .. you are not suppose to hand me the baby i will get the baby out of the crib on my own.. it was horrible .. anyway .i apolgize to you all.. i was pushed over th edge last night .. i do think chanc birth plan is okay and no she is not spoiled or stupid .. i love her posts and all of yours .. i am ashamed of myself .please forgive me

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