Contents
What is a birth plan?
The birth plan concerns all future mothers! It is in fact a process of thinking about the pregnancy follow-up, the way you want to experience your delivery and the reception of your baby. It is a tool for taking stock, and not necessarily a written document. However, for convenience and to be able to come back to it more easily later, you can write down your wishes or refusals on paper. For some future mothers, it can be summed up as: “I want to give birth under an epidural”, while for others, the reflection evolves over the months and is developed with the professional who follows the pregnancy.
What points to address?
“All questions can be raised,” emphasizes Sophie Gamelin-Lavois *. This involves getting information upstream about the protocols, getting information on the consequences of such an act, questioning about maternity practices. See with the obstetric team what can be negotiable or adaptable. Clarify some points so that the birth is yours
picture. Some don’t want to be triggered, others want to avoid an episiotomy or can’t imagine lying down with an IV. For still others, it may be a matter of wishing to wait a bit before cutting the cord …
How to submit a birth plan?
For those who have written their project upstream, there is no need to entrust it to the healthcare professional in its entirety! Sophie Gamelin-Lavois advises instead to limit yourself to a summary mentioning the essential points. Give a copy to the practitioner who followed you to include it in the file. Also make a copy for D-Day. Also know that you can simply share two or three things that are important to you, orally, to the midwife who accompanies you in the delivery room.
Does the medical team have to accept it?
The teams are more and more open to the expectations of future parents. However, in some maternities, you will have to fight, or even face a refusal of your project, on the grounds that it is incompatible with the protocols of the service. The birth plan has no legal value, but the so-called Kouchner law specifies that “the doctor must respect the will of the person after having informed him of the consequences of his choices”. To avoid conflicts, you can contact an association that will act as a mediator such as Ciane (*), a collective of associations that work to improve the conditions of birth.
Can we modify a birth plan?
The birth plan is not set in stone and is nourished over the months. You can therefore modify it, or even change your mind during work.