Evaluating Birth Plans: Valuable Insight or Unrealistic Expectations?
Published: 07 October 2020
Published: 07 October 2020
On the one hand, they can be a valuable tool to guide caregivers on how to support a woman’s choices, but on the other, they may also lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment with the birthing experience.
So, is the use of birth plans supported by current research? And if so, what information should a birth plan contain?
Many women choose to create a formal plan to help improve their birthing experience. Birth plans are easy to write, and instructions on what to include can easily be found on the internet, in pregnancy books or in some antenatal clinics. Typically, a birth plan might contain some or all of the following information:
Once written, it is common for the mother to keep a personal copy of the birth plan, with another copy kept in her hospital notes for reference.
Whilst all of these decisions can be made as the need arises, creating a birth plan does have the advantage of helping couples plan for their ideal birth experience. However, as Anderson et al. (2017) note, hospital staff have varied opinions about how useful they are, with some who support their use and others who suggest that they set unrealistic expectations for an unpredictable process.
Supporters of birth plans claim they give more autonomy to women in labour and increase involvement in decision-making, which can help raise overall satisfaction with the birthing experience. It’s an important consideration - when women are left out of decision-making, a six-fold decrease in satisfaction is reported amongst nulliparous women and a 15-fold decrease in satisfaction is reported among multiparous women (Anderson et al. 2017).
For many women, birth plans can be a valuable tool to enhance education and communication, but for others, they may result in feelings of disappointment or dissatisfaction if their plan cannot be implemented as they wish (Aragon et al. 2013).
Anderson et al. (2017) also raise concerns about the length and complexity of many birth plans. Online templates can be many pages long, which can discourage carers from closely reviewing the document.
Online birth plans may not address what is, or is not, available at a particular hospital, which may lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment. Many online birth plans also suggest specific wording to avoid any medical interventions, for example, ‘unless absolutely or medically necessary’. This can potentially cause conflict between mothers and their midwives, who may feel that they are unable to make any recommendations for interventions unless they are indeed medically necessary. These concerns are echoed by Afshar, Mei, Fahey and Gregory (2019) among others, who suggest that over 66% of providers don’t recommend the use of birth plans and 31% feel that they are predictors of poor obstetric outcomes.
Grant, Sueda and Kaneshiro (2010) also suggest that patients with birth plans tend to have worse obstetric outcomes overall compared to women who discuss their preferences with their midwife at the time of delivery. Statistically significant differences have also been reported between health care providers and patients in terms of their perceptions of birth plans. In other words, there seems to be a large disparity between the views of pregnant women and those of their carers regarding the benefits of birth planning.
Recognising that there may be conflicting beliefs about what constitutes safe, effective care, and ethical issues related to informed consent and informed refusal, Lothian (2006) suggests that birth plans should aim to answer three simple patient-focused questions:
(Lothian 2006)
With such a disparity between views, there is obviously a need for further research to clarify if satisfaction, trust and communication scores would be higher or lower if a birth plan is not used. Yet, as Anderson et al. (2017) point out, feelings of satisfaction are difficult to measure as they are far more likely to be related to the delivery itself rather than the use of a birth plan.
Perhaps, as Hidalgo-Lopezosa et al. (2017) suggest, part of the reason why birth plans are not viewed entirely positively is that they tend to have a low degree of compliance. It’s a problem that leads many researchers such as Mirghafourvand et al. (2019) to conclude that there is simply not enough evidence to either support or refute that planning can improve the birth experience.
Given that birth plans aren’t always welcomed and may risk increasing disappointment in a less than ideal birth, DeBaets (2017) suggests that creating a birth partnership rather than a birth plan may be more successful. It represents a move away from the tick-box approach and towards a deeper partnership between a woman and her midwife or obstetric team. In an ideal situation, both parties would take the time to discuss in advance the values of the woman and the choices to be made during labour.
Taking the time to build mutual trust can raise patient satisfaction and help avoid potential conflicts, and it’s also true that building a close relationship between midwife and mother is at the heart of midwifery care.
Yet, when face-to-face antenatal time is scarce and there is limited opportunity to build a true birthing partnership, birth plans may still have an important role to play in giving women greater autonomy over how they give birth.
Anne is a freelance lecturer and medical writer at Mind Body Ink. She is a former midwife and nurse teacher with over 25 years’ experience working in the fields of healthcare, stress management and medical hypnosis. Her background includes working as a hospital midwife, Critical Care nurse, lecturer in Neonatal Intensive Care, and as a Clinical Nurse Specialist for a company making life support equipment. Anne has also studied many forms of complementary medicine and has extensive experience in the field of clinical hypnosis. She has a special interest in integrating complementary medicine into conventional healthcare settings and is currently an Associate Tutor, lecturing in Health Coaching and Medical Hypnosis at Exeter University in the UK. As a former Midwife, Anne has a natural passion for writing about fertility, pregnancy, birthing and baby care. Her recent publications include The Health Factor, Coach Yourself To Better Health and Positive Thinking For Kids. You can read more about her work at www.MindBodyInk.com. See Educator Profile