birth plan for twins
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(29 Posts)
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hello ladies, MN has gone mad and won't let me use my normal name, claiming the name is already in use! so i'm flumpity really but seemingly banished from using my own name.
anyway, to get to the point, as i approach 37 weeks, i've started thinking i ought to write something on the birth plan part of my mat notes. wasn't going to bother, given how far from my plan my dd1's birth was (embarrassed looking back it now, all the 'i don't want pain relief' stuff before ending up demanding an epidural!)
In your experience, what is it actually worth writing when you've got twins, particularly mono-chorionic ones? the hosp policy is for continuous monitoring, which i feel inclined to go along with having been terrified to death by the flipping tamba message boards full of people saying things like no way under any circumstances would they consider a VB with MC twins because of acute TTTS etc... but my host (st thomas) seem v experienced and are v encouraging of a VB if poss, but with continuous monitoring. So that's fine by me. (lots of hospitals seem to do a 36 week c sec for MC twins by default which strikes me as OTT, and consultant won't do that anyway even if i wanted).
ANYWAY, realistically, how upright and mobile can you be with continuous monitoring of twins? Is it even worth bothering to write that down? obviously i don't want to be stuck lying on a bed on my back... will they just assume its obvious i don't want that? or am i being daft to presume anything else is possible with a twin VB and monitoring?
I'm also not anti epidurals (loved my last one although it did make pushing hard and long). But if i put that down, will they just assume I actively want all interventions going? (i don't, just haven't closed off the possibility).
i'm rambling now, but if anyone can remember what their twins birth plan said and how useful (or irrelevant!) it was, i'd appreciate a nosey at what you said. and also what then actually happened...
thanks ladies.
xxx
lol rollmops. Glad all went well and that you melted

sounds idyllic. glad it went to plan!!
Rollmops' Birthplan:
1. To arrive to the hospital and be greeted by the smiling nurses and ever-so-clever-and-handsome consultant --- check.
2. To get the show rolling asap --- eer, no check. Had to wait for the 3 emergency Csections to be preformed by the same consultant as the poor mothers had been in terrible labour the whole night and things were getting dangerous.
3. Hoping that Mr.Rollmops won't faint at the sight of the operating theatre ---- check

was ever so proud of him!
4. Hoping for a tres' competent team --- check, absolutely brilliant doctors and nurses.
5. Easy and painless delivery of our DTs --- check, all went perfectly.
6. Everything to be OK with the DTs ---- big check!!!

7. That DTs would latch on and get the goodies --- double check!
8. That we wouldn't melt, literally, of all the emotion --- eer, no check, this was the most overhelmingly happy time, never ever have I felt so much love. So Rollmops' family melted and melted

.
7. That the lovely sushi place across the street would be open as one required a triple order of sushi, pronto --- no check, had to settle for Carluccios instead.
So, here you have it, a bona fide birthplan that actually went according to plan, mostly...

And the ones who consider the Planned Csection a 'failure'[rolls eyes] --- haaa, do you REALLY think that I care?
That would very handy and hugely interesting. Ta

I'm pretty sure he might not mind being contacted by other women or doulas outside Liverpool. He works with my Doula fairly frequently. I'll ask him shall I? He has some interesting ideas and if everything is OK and I end up with MLU he could be a useful point of contact for people across the country.
Mars - Liverpool Women's of recent Rooney fame

They are facilitating individual care for me outside the policy, the point of contact would be Simon Mehigan who is the Consultant midwife for Normalcy.
flumpity - It's all sounding good. Sounds like your hospital and consultant are good and supportive too. I'm sure you'll be fine, me ma says twins are normally easier to deliver than singletons as they are normally smaller and second time around should be easier than your first too. I think the things you've listed on this thread sound like they'll be compatible with your consultant's attitude and you won't have any problems with them, they are sensible things which might just happen anyway. I was going to say maybe you'll have them before me but if you're a late deliverer you might not! lol
Yes I'm all for the building of good relationships with the HCPs. It's what all of my ladies do. We request the multiples birth policy and my ladies go through it with their Consultants.
Which hospital are you at? It would be handy to have one to refer people to with regards to the MBPolicy.

mars - <<hijacks thread>> Yes I will! lol I think my hospital is very progressive as is my obstetrician, they are the only hospital I've known of to have a consultant midwife for normalcy. I believe he is newly appointed and is implementing a lot of changes. I am rather exciting for them (which is great as before I was only a problem) as they've never had anyone with multiples in the MLU and the staff are various levels of excited and nervous. They've been co-ordinating things for a long time and providing staff training specially for my natural birth demands but they seem to want to move the hospital in the direction I would like - less interventions, more comfortable birth environments, more patient choice, individualised care e.t.c.
The main thing with my hospital is that I trust them and we have talked about all the things. My old hospital nearly died at the thought of me moving off the bed or not having the monitors, I suspect that'd be the norm maybe! I think that's the reason I majorly fell out with them - they refused to discuss things with me and wanted me to do what I was told which doesn't sit well with me.
That was the main problem, fundamentally I believe you need to build a great relationship with your care providers and that you can't push them out of their comfort zone because they won't be equipped to provide good care. The new hospital suits me better because the consultants have both signed off the plan and prepared the other staff in various ways. Rather than risking me jumping up and peeling off monitors and panicking everyone like I might have done in Ormskirk, I'll have the monitors if necessary and move around how I like and they'll all be prepared for it and supported by various structures in the women's.
I am a stroppy mare.
