Use of birth plans by pregnant women and its impact on childbirth: an integrative review.
Paola Coutinho Barreto, Maria Luziene de Sousa Gomes, Roger Rodrigues da Silva and 5 others
PMID 42339940WHAT IT FOUND
Birth plans gave pregnant women a way to state preferences and discuss them with staff, but most evidence came from women’s experiences.
Use them for communication, not as a guarantee of outcomes.
Key findings
01The review included 41 studies and organized the evidence into seven themes: birth plan knowledge, use, items, maternal outcomes, neonatal outcomes, satisfaction and compliance, and prenatal care.
02Most included studies were qualitative or descriptive, and the review states that this limits generalization of the findings to different contexts.
03Included studies reported associations between birth plans and communication, participation, satisfaction, and some maternal and neonatal outcomes, but also reported lack of birth plan knowledge.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Most included studies were qualitative or descriptive, so the review describes experiences and associations more than proven effects. Some included studies had weak methodological descriptions, such as missing study design, year, or sample size. The included studies were mostly from Spain and the United States, with little Brazilian production, so the evidence may not match all maternity settings. The review summarized findings narratively rather than combining them into one overall estimate.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as proof that birth plans improve maternal or neonatal outcomes. Most included studies were qualitative or descriptive, and the review says birth plans do not guarantee that labor and birth proceed as planned.