Writing Your Birth Plan
There are many out there who think either:
- a birth plan is essential and you should NEVER go into labor without one and you should write EVERYTHING you desire (and don’t desire) in that document.
OR
- you can’t “plan” birth, and people who try to are setting themselves up for disappointment (or at least conflict) and, as a result, care providers often don’t pay much attention to them.
As you might imagine, I believe there is, at least, a third way to look at the concept of a birth plan and that the process of writing it is as valuable as the document itself.
For some context, let’s look at the history of birth plans.
In 1980, Penny Simkin and Carla Reinke presented the birth plan as part of a childbirth education class curriculum at a conference of childbirth educators. This document was always intended to be the jumping off point of a conversation between parents and their care providers.
With that in mind, the idea that a birth plan would create a conversation between two people have taken the birth “plan” too far and it had become a point of contention in hospitals where staff believed it was a recipe for failure or dissatisfaction.
While today, many expectant parents and those new to the birth professional see birth as still very medicalized, it is important to understand that at the time Simkin and Reinke introduced this concept of a birth plan, enemas and perineal shaves were routinely given to women in labor and partners had only been welcomed in the birthing room as a normal occurrence for a decade or so.
While enemas and shaving are out, induction of labor has increased significantly so the birth plan preference document is still useful. AND you want a birth preferences document that care providers will actually READ and try their best to implement for you. SO, once you have worked through what is most important to you, you want to get it into the format you will give to your care providers.
With that in mind, a one-page Birth Preferences document that is easy to read & includes the most important preferences is the way to go.I truly think 3-5 bulleted items are best. If you need more, then add them.
Think about what is most essential for folks to know and what you may feel is essential to write down to ensure it happens. For example, I wouldn’t recommend putting “low-lighting” unless it is one of your “top ten” particularly because it is widely recognized and an easy need to meet.
Some online birth plan formats may help you discover what has meaning and value for you.
http://pregnancy.about.com/od/birthplans/a/birth-plan.htm
Unlike Wikipedia, Verywell.com (formerlyAbout.com) is a source to be trusted
(at least with regard to the pregnancy and childbirth sections. Robin Elise Weiss is a true blue expert and her information is thorough and evidence based.)
http://images.thebump.com/tools/pdfs/birth_plan.pdf
This is TOO LONG! This should be used a framework for getting your own preferences document to one page.
As I mention in class, I think creating a plan is helpful AND I feel strongly it should be provided in a way that will bring attention to it and make it memorable (dare I say even enjoyable for your providers to read – think about how many they see).
I suggest that your plan/preferences are printed on brightly colored paper – be sure to bring at least TWO copies – one for your room, the other for your chart – otherwise they will simply copy it onto white paper for your chart. Again, you want it to stand out.
You might also get very creative – include photos of yourselves, or your baby’s ultrasound photo, print your plan on a baby tee shirt, in a belly cast, attach it to a helium balloon, pray flags, video? I had a client who was a graphic artist and she created a great document with colored fonts and graphics. Lovely to look at…and again, it is about it being memorable. We are a very visual culture with extremely limited attention span…keep that in mind.