title: Birth plans: the good, the bad, and the future.
abstract: A written birth plan encourages women to clarify desires and expectations and communicate with their providers to make a realistic plan for care during labor. Tension between health professionals and patients caused by birth plans reflects the larger problems with contemporary maternity care: conflicting beliefs about birth, what constitutes safe, effective care, and ethical issues related to informed consent and informed refusal. The focus of birth plans should be to answer three patient-focused questions: What will I do to stay confident and feel safe? What will I do to find comfort in response to my contractions? Who will support me through labor, and what will I need from them? In this article, the history and purposes of birth plans and approaches to resolving tensions will be discussed.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ 07079, USA. lothiaju@shu.edu
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lothian
mesh_terms: D002755:Choice Behavior; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000523:psychology*; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009773:Obstetric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D012449:Safety; D012944:Social Support; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures