Here is how I avoided these common interventions:

• Choose the right care provider
• Have a healthy pregnancy
• Voice your desires early on
• Stick to your guns!

If you choose a midwife instead of an OBGYN, you will be much more likely to have an intervention-free birth, especially at a hospital. Having your baby at home with a midwife is probably the surest way to avoid interventions, but I wanted the security of a hospital for my first. Discuss interventions with your midwife first: some midwives are more like doctors in their thinking and practices. Typically, if you are negative for Group B Strep, are not being induced, and are not planning on having any drugs, there is no reason you need an IV. Include in your birth preferences that you do not want one if it can be avoided, and keep yourself hydrated during labor with “clear liquids.”

As for my baby, I researched the three common drugs/shots that are administered right after birth—eye ointment, Vitamin K, and Hepatitis (these may differ depending on where you live). The eye ointment is only needed if the mother has an STD. The Vitamin K shot is a blood clotting factor, and since I was having a girl I opted out since there would be no circumcision. The Hepatitis shot can be given at the baby’s first doctor’s appointment. I wanted to make her transition into the world as easy as possible, and felt that none of these were necessary. I requested that none of them be performed in my birth preferences, and the nurses honored that. I did have to sign a waiver saying that I had opted out and that I wouldn’t sue if complications arose because of that, which I was fine with. Always remember, this is YOUR birth, YOUR body, and YOUR baby and you have a say in what happens!

One really important part of my Hypnobirth was writing a birth preferences sheet for my care providers. This should be a part of any and all births–no matter what method is used. Birth involves YOUR body, and YOUR baby, and no one else should be making decisions for you about how you experience it.

I really like that Monica (my Hypnobirthing instructor) called these “birth preferences” instead of a “birth plan.” A birth plan is too restrictive…many times events will occur that take you away from that “plan” and this could lead to disappointment and frustration. Birth preferences are flexible…able to change as special circumstances occur. (I liked that we used “special circumstances” rather than “complications.”) Basically, in your birth preferences sheet you want to outline what you would prefer to have done should everything progress normally. Often, many of your preferences can be met, at least partially, even when the birthing process takes an unexpected turn.

Here is a copy of my birth preferences sheet: Fiona’s Birth Preferences. I took the time to make these look really nice and laminated them so that my care providers would know that they were important to me. We even attached candy bars to the top! Several of them commented on how nice it looked, and I was glad that it stood out to them so that they wouldn’t overlook it. In the end, every preference on my sheet was followed. The nurses were wonderful about everything that I asked.

In creating your own birth preferences, here are some areas to consider:

What method are you using? What should they know about it?

What would you like the atmosphere in the room to be like?

Would you prefer an IV or Heplock? Or neither?

How mobile would you like to be? What kinds of positions and comfort techniques will you be using? Jacuzzi? Birth Ball? Squat Bar?

Which of these items would you need to borrow from the hospital? Which will you provide?

How would you like fetal monitoring to take place? How often?

How do you feel about being offered medication? What medications do you plan to use, if any? How do you feel about pitocin if labor slows? What about breaking the water?

How do you feel about an episiotomy vs. tearing?

When your baby is born, what would you like the nurses/doctor to do with him/her? Immediately to your chest? Cleaned and weighed first? Which treatments would you like given to your baby, and which would you like withheld? How long before they cut the cord? Who should cut the cord?

How do you plan to feed your baby? How can the staff help you achieve that goal?

Do you prefer to have the baby with you at all times in the hospital, or in the nursery?

Taking the time to make decisions about these things and write them down for your care providers will make a HUGE difference in your birth experience. I am so glad I took the time to do this. Some of these things I didn’t even know about before I took my Hypnobirthing class! I am so grateful to Monica and my midwives for encouraging me to do this plan, and to all the hospital staff for respecting my wishes.

I worried about whether or not the hospital staff and nurses would really follow what was on my birth preferences sheet. After all, some of the things were probably very uncommon for a hospital birth. From the moment I checked in, I sensed that the nurses knew and respected my midwife and were familiar with how her patients liked to birth. They never once crossed me in anything I wanted. Claudia (my midwife) was wonderful—I could tell that she had read my preferences and was familiar with them when I arrived. She brought things up that I was too out-of-it to remember! What doctor does that? My hat goes off to the wonderful midwives at Mt. Timp, especially Claudia. Thanks for helping me have my perfect birth!

When choosing your own care provider, look for someone who will cater to your needs, not the other way around. Meet with them and discuss how they feel about things like birth preferences, natural birth, episiotomies, and fetal monitoring. Make sure that they will stand up for you at the hospital and see that your preferences are carried out as much as possible. You will be glad you did!