If you're like many pregnant women, you're excited about the child growing inside you. And maybe you're a little uneasy about the experience too. In your dreams, you'll go into labor a few days early. Then the labor and delivery will be relatively pain free, and it will last only an hour or two. But you also know that very few deliveries happen that way.
Even if you've had a dream delivery before, you know that every birth is unique. Your thoughts or circumstances might be different from your other deliveries. Or, this might be your first birth experience. Either way, there's a lot to decide.
Communicate Your Preferences
Find out what the standard procedures are for the birth professional you've chosen, and for the birthplace you've selected. Hospitals used to routinely give women enemas and shaved their pubic hair when they were admitted for delivery. Times have changed.
Most hospitals and birth professionals make every effort to honor your preferences for what happens during the delivery and postnatal period. Think about how you want your birth experience to go, and discuss it with your partner and birth professional. This will help you have the birth experience you want.
Be Flexible
Many women write out what they would like to have happen during the delivery. Keep in mind that this is more of a "wish list" than the Ten Commandments. Certain unanticipated events – such as an emergency cesarean birth – might make it impossible for you to closely follow your plan. You might want to consider a few of the possibilities, even though they seem remote.
You might change your mind once you're in the middle of labor. That's okay too. At some point it will be too late to take pain medications. But most things can be adapted.
Some Childbirth Ideas
Below is a list of childbirth issues that many women have found important to consider. Read down the list and adapt it to address what's important to you.
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