Communicate with Your Doctor During Labor Effectively

Making sure that communication of your wishes and desires for your labor and delivery is open with your doctor or midwife during labor can be a worry for any pregnant woman. How do you make sure that your wishes are followed during such a stressful time? Well there are several methods for making sure that your wishes and desires are known even during the stress and excitement of labor and delivery.

One way to make certain that your desires and wishes are known is to make sure to not only discuss these with your doctor or midwife, but make sure that these are written down in your record. There are a few ways of doing this. The first way is to communicate these wishes and desires with your doctor or midwife and tell them that you want them to write these down in your record. This way of doing it may leave some of your wishes interpreted by the doctor or midwife. The second much more accurate way of doing this, to make sure that you get this into your record accurately, is to write down your wishes and desires on a sheet of paper and ask to have this submitted into your record. By doing it this way, you make sure that something is not misinterpreted into your wishes and desires for your labor and delivery. Another reason to do this in advance is because it is NOT during the stress of labor and delivery, when things are stressful and you are in pain. You are doing it at a time when you can think clearly and make your choices very accurately and decisively known to all. You may want to put another copy of this into your hospital bag for your partner or labor coach, so they know as well what your choices are, in case the copy in your record becomes lost or misplaced.

Another way to do this is to make sure that your partner or labor coach knows what your wishes for your labor and delivery are. You must be able to trust that your partner or labor coach is NOT going to waiver on your wishes, though, if you decide to use this method. When your partner or labor coach sees you in a lot of pain are they going to be able to stand their ground and not allow the doctor or hospital staff to do things to "make you more comfortable" that are against your wishes? Since you may not be in a state of mind to let your feelings or wishes known at that time, you must be able to trust that your partner of labor coach will ensure that your wishes are carried out even if you are in a level of pain they may never have seen you in before. You must ask yourself if they are going to let the doctor or hospital staff do things that you do not want carried out?? Of course there are situations that may come up that no one would be able to foresee. For situations such as that, you may want to put into your notes, that you asked to be entered into your record, what situations would you allow them to use measures that go against your desires or wishes. Such as the baby being in danger or your health being in danger. You should also discuss these things with your Doctor or midwife and your partner or labor coach at great length to assure that your choices are adhered to in the course of your labor. Such issues as what types of pain relief are acceptable and which are not, do you want to have an epidural for your labor or not? What reasons would you consider a cesarean section necessary? Are you going with natural childbirth and no pain relief is acceptable?

These are very personal decisions and you must consider them carefully. The time to do this is NOT while you are in labor and ready to deliver your baby. You need to make sure that your wishes and desires are known by all. Other things that you might want to include in this paper to be put into your records are some decisions about your new baby as well, since if there is an emergency, you may not be conscious to let anyone know about some of these decisions as well. Some of these things might include: are you going to bottle or breast feed your baby? Do you want the baby to have a bottle of any sort? Some hospitals routinely give newborns sugar water to make sure that everything is working correctly, do you want this done? If the baby is a boy, what are your wishes as far as circumcision? Which pediatrician are you going to use? (This is something you might want to arrange in advance and then make sure that he/she does your baby's new born assessment). Obviously, these are things that you will want to discuss with your partner and labor coach as well. But whatever you decide, you may want to make sure that these things are in writing in your record, so there are no questions as to your wishes and desires when that exciting moment happens!