Resumen de Plan de parto: efecto sobre la satisfacción de las madres y los resultados perinatales
Background: Robust evidence on postnatal morbidity have highlighted the importance of positive childbirth experience, yet there is a lack of research around maternal satisfaction in Spain. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) and Ministerio de Sanidad (2007) recommend the Birth Plan as a tool to support positive birth experiences as it provides a greater degree of autonomy and control to pregnant women and promotes decision-making during pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period. However, the Birth Plan effects are not exempt from controversy and continue to elicit considerable debates.
Objective: To analyse the effect of submitting a Birth Plan on women’s birth experiences and perinatal outcomes.
Methods: A descriptive, observational study was conducted in Tenerife, Canary Islands, during 2016-2020. A total of 664 women met the study criteria. Birth Plan Group included 350 women and n=314 in the non-Birth Plan Group. All participants completed a structured interview questionnaire (based on COMFORTS questionnaire) to examine women satisfaction. They also fulfilled a specific questionnaire for each group, designed for assessing the purpose of the study. Maternal characteristics, antenatal factors, postpartum factors, neonatal characteristics and patient satisfaction measures were compared between groups.
Results: Women who presented a Birth Plan had a statistically higher degree of maternal satisfaction compared to the non-Birth Plan Group (4.8±0.6 vs. 4.2±0.8; p<0.001). As result of linear regression model, we obtained that Submitting a Birth Plan (B=0.48; 95%CI:0.35-0.60), antenatal class attendance (0.14; 0.01-0.26), childbirth expectations fulfilled (0.16; 0.09-0.23) and feeling in control during labour (0.12; 0.06- 0.19) were independent predictive factors for maternal satisfaction. No significant differences were found in perinatal outcomes among groups.
Conclusions: Relationship between Birth Plan and perinatal outcomes has not been proven, but submitting a Birth Plan significantly increased the degree of maternal satisfaction experienced during labour and birth.
Implications for practice: Our results showed that the Birth Plan could reinforce women’s birth experiences, therefore its used should be promoted in clinical settings. Further research is needed to determine the Birth Plan effects on perinatal outcomes.
