In the past few days, perhaps because of the snowy weather and concerns about travel, my wife has had two calls from people who have mentioned a) have you got your overnight bag packed and b) have you got your birth plan ready?
The former seemed obvious to me until my sister told me that apart from the normal things you would take to a hotel you would also have such items as nappies and baby clothes, which frankly hadn't occurred to me even though it was pretty straight forward what the whole thing was about. The theory is that any time after about 30 weeks, you should be prepared for an early onslaught of labour and therefore have a bag packed and ready. I should imagine there is a long checklist somewhere on the subject but it occured to me that I need to have a shovel on standby, de-icer, WD-40 and enough fuel in the tank to get to the hospital. I draw a line on having towels and a thermos of hot water in case the whole thing occurs on the way.
The birth plan was a revelation.
The NHS recommends at around 34 weeks that an expectant mum writes a detailed birth plan. It's a frightening thought as it basically lays out what you would like before and during labour in terms of pain relief. My wife is now at around 31 weeks so it is slightly ahead of the game but I sat poised with pen and paper to get her wishes down. Asking what pain relief she would prefer, she answered simply, 'Whatever they have got, bring it on.'
I dare say nearer the time we may fine tune that plan but she was being serious - having decided on the natural birth option she has no intention of being in agony for several hours.
Fair point.
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