Time to Make the Birth Plan

So I'm officially past the half way point in my pregnancy (21+ weeks), and I'm to that point where I have to start thinking about planning for delivery and all the details associated with the birth plan.  A lot of my mommy friends are obsessed with parenting and birthing books when it comes to getting advice for making these decisions.  Some are consumed by the concept of doing everything "natural." While others have declared that they want the least painful approach to childbirth as possible.  All I can say to my friends is this: to each her own.  My personal goal in choosing a birth method is to do what is safest for my baby.

As a nurse attorney who has spent most of the last 3 years working in medical malpractice, I have my own unique perspective on child birth.  It seems that every month or so I get a new birth injury case across my desk.   I have seen a trend among these cases.  Too often something went wrong somewhere, somebody wasn't paying good enough attention, and the caregiver waited way too long to do a c-section, which if performed earlier would have prevented the birth injury and associated complications.  Based on the evidence in these cases (and my personal observations while rotating through L & D in nursing school), C-sections are not the horrible, unnecessary, monstrous procedures that many women view them to be.  In many cases, the c-section is the difference between a baby with brain damage vs. a healthy baby. 

My first delivery was a necessary and urgent c-section in light of some blood pressure and kidney problems I was experiencing.  But the 2nd time around, the ball was in my court and I was given the option of a repeat C-section or a VBAC.  In light of my experience with birth injury cases, I actually consulted one of my firm's medical experts to help me make my decision.  He said that the safest decision I could make for my baby was to deliver him via C-section.  Subsequently, I consulted other professionals on the matter who all agreed that there is no medical advantage to a VBAC.  Thus, I chose the safety first method and had a repeat C-section.  Ultimately this turned out to be a great decision since there was meconium in my water when it spontaneously broke at home.  A quicker delivery turned out to be a good thing for my baby.

This time around, I'm sticking with the decision to choose the safest delivery for my baby. I can honestly say that I don't feel the guilt and grief that other mothers do about not ever having a natural or pain-med free delivery.  For the life of me, I can't figure out why this bothers women.  I mean, I've never heard anyone complain about having their wisdom teeth removed under general anesthesia or having to have a surgical appendectomy.  So this whole mommy guilt that people feel about their deliveries is crazy.  Mommies should realize that the bottom line is this: your goal should be to deliver a healthy and happy baby.  Some mommies do this naturally. Some mommies do this with epidurals. And some mommies do this with surgery.  But regardless of how you deliver, you can still be an awesome mommy.