A critical review of the birth plan use in Catalonia

- Most of the public hospitals have devised their own Birth Plan document.
- A critical examination of the options given to women in these documents is presented.
- According to structure and content, three types of birth plan are identified.
- Some areas considered good practice are not included in the documents.
- Birth plan documents should be regularly revised and updated.

IntroductionThe birth plan allows the woman to express her expectations and needs with regards to the childbearing continuum but its use has been debated in the clinical context and in published literature. The birth plan was first introduced in the Spanish Health Service in 2008 through the Strategy for the Care in Normal Childbirth. In Catalonia, the Normal Childbirth Care Programme has promoted the use of birth plans in hospitals participating in this Programme.ObjectiveThis works describes and analyses the birth plans produced by the participating hospitals in order to gather knowledge about the options available to women.MethodQualitative study in which the content of birth plans is systematically and quantitatively described in order to evaluate options available to women. The final sample includes all the birth plans provided by 30 Catalonian public hospitals. Following an initial assessment, it was decided to devise a grading scale which allowed to code and assign a value to each of the items contained in the birth plans.ResultsThree different types of birth plan are identified: a) those which present a list of items with no (or very little) associated explanations, b) list of items with some explanations and c) plans without items which only explain normal working practices in the hospital and/or protocols.