| Birth preferences |
 |
There are many options and possibilities for labour and birth. By the time you have been through pre-natal classes,
read some books, seen some videos and talked to your friends, you will have some idea of the things you would like to have
happen during birth and also those things you would like to avoid. Further information can also be found in
Preparing For Birth: Fathers.
To help you clarify your ideas, the list below offers a number of possible options. Hospitals vary enormously in the
services they offer and the routines they use to manage labour. In many places, you will be encouraged to labour as you
wish, and the issues listed below will not arise. However, don't rely on this - it is better to have discussed your ideas
in advance than to be disappointed later when your preferences run counter to prevailing hospital routines and protocols.
Assume the pregnancy, labour and birth will be normal, unless there are clear medical indications that a problem has
occurred.
Go through the list, and note which options you would like (YES), those you don't want (NO) and those options you don't
have strong feelings about.
During the pregnancy
Choice of caregiver:
| ______ |
Independent midwife |
| ______ |
Hospital based midwife |
| ______ |
General Practitioner |
| ______ |
Obstetrician |
| ______ |
Shared care by midwife and doctor |
Place of birth:
| ______ |
Home |
| ______ |
Birth Centre |
| ______ |
Hospital maternity unit |
Labour
| ______ |
Wearing own clothes |
| ______ |
Electronic fetal monitoring test trace on admission |
| ______ |
Consent to be a teaching patient (students and staff present at any time) |
| ______ |
Returning home if not in established labour |
| ______ |
Food/fluids on request throughout labour |
| ______ |
Intravenous drip in labour |
| ______ |
External fetal monitoring throughout labour |
| ______ |
Internal fetal monitoring |
| ______ |
Monitoring fetal heart rate by hand (fetal stethoscope) |
| ______ |
Freedom to choose positions and activity in labour (walking, sitting, squatting, kneeling, etc.) |
| ______ |
Vaginal exam for specific medical indication only |
| ______ |
Full information on risks and benefits of each suggested medical procedure |
| ______ |
Artificial rupture of the membranes |
| ______ |
Artificial hormone (oxytocin) to boost contractions or induce labour |
| ______ |
Access to water pool, shower or bath for pain relief |
| ______ |
Analgesia or anaesthesia for pain in labour: |
|
Kind preferred _________________________________________________ |
| ______ |
Partner/chosen person(s) present at all times |
| ______ |
Siblings present for labour |
| ______ |
Presence of interpreter |
Birth
| ______ |
Presence of partner/chosen person(s) during actual birth |
| ______ |
Siblings present for birth |
| ______ |
Partner/chosen person(s) present for Caesarean birth |
| ______ |
Birth in same room as labour |
| ______ |
Position for second stage chosen by mother |
| ______ |
Pushing begun on mother's urge only |
| ______ |
No draping of mother with sheets for the birth |
| ______ |
Anaesthesia for delivery: |
|
Kind preferred _________________________________________________ |
| ______ |
No specific time limit on second stage if progress is being made |
| ______ |
Episiotomy |
| ______ |
Freedom to touch baby during birth |
| ______ |
Father/mother assisting with actual birth by hand |
| ______ |
Midwife to assist baby's birth |
| ______ |
Female rather than male doctor |
| ______ |
Baby allowed to take first breaths unassisted (no immediate suctioning, etc.) |
| ______ |
Late cord clamping (after pulsating stops) |
| ______ |
Skin-to-skin contact for mother and father with baby immediately after birth |
| ______ |
Artificial hormone injection (oxytocin) after the birth to expel the placenta |
| ______ |
Baby on breast to stimulate expulsion of placenta |
| ______ |
Vernix left on |
| ______ |
Baby weighed, measured in parents' presence after initial bonding period |
Post natal
| ______ |
Baby remains with mother at all times (nights included) |
| ______ |
Person of choice in mother's room at any time of day |
| ______ |
Breastfeeding on demand from birth |
| ______ |
Help with breastfeeding on request |
| ______ |
Formula feeding |
| ______ |
Vitamin K for baby: oral/injection/withheld unless requested by parents |
| ______ |
Circumcision |
| ______ |
Early discharge from hospital as soon as mother wishes |
| ______ |
Additional ideas _________________________________________________ |
|
