PLANNING FOR A HOSPITAL BIRTH?

I had a hospital birth with my first and these are some of the things that I learned, either before or from my experience.

These are the things I recommend doing so that you are informed and feel good after your hospital birth! I don’t think anything is right or wrong for any certain person, because we’re all unique. These are just things that have potential to come up in the hospital setting! My intention is to bring awareness to these and empower moms to make their own decisions. You can opt out or in to anything they offer!

First, they will schedule you for an ultrasound for confirmation of pregnancy around 7/8 weeks and take blood for lab work. You will be offered another ultrasound around 11 weeks for genetic testing, and then another around 20 weeks for the anatomy scan. Looking into ultrasounds and the effect on babies can help you decide if you want to do these or opt out.

At 26 weeks they will suggest a gestational diabetes test. It’s a blood test where you drink 50g of sugar while fasting and then take a blood sample 1 hour after. If you fail, they will want to do a 3 hour test as well at another time. The alternative to this is testing your own blood sugar at home for a few days with a meter or you can deny it all together.

Looking into the cascade of interventions will help you decide if an induction is something you want to do! The risks of Pitocin on mom and baby, effects of IV fluid, and benefits of vaginal birth vs c-section. These are all good things to start with!

As for baby, here is what I would research:

CORD CLAMPING

EYE DROPS

HEP B

VITAMIN K

FIRST BATH

CIRCUMCISION

I hope this is helpful and a good jumping off place. Let me know if you have any other questions and topics you want me to dive into more!

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