Does the birth plan match what is relevant to women? Women's preferences when giving birth

Background: To support women in making shared decisions, it is important to know what is relevant to them. The aim is to explore which of the options included in birth plans are of most interest to women, and whether the variability is associated with personal characteristics Methods: Participants were asked about their degree of agreement with statements about delivery environment, accompaniment, pain relief, medical intervention and neonatal care. The relationship between agreement with each statement, sociodemographic variables and fear of childbirth (W-DEQ-A) was analysed. Results: 247 women responded. More than 90% preferred a hospital delivery, with information about and control over medical intervention, accompanied by their partner and continuous skin-to-skin contact with the newborn. There are other questions to which women attach less importance or which show greater variability in their responses; these are questions related to more clinical aspects. More than 30% had a neutral opinion on foetal monitoring, placenta delivery, or cord clamping. There are various factors that are related to this variability;parity, nationality, educational level, risk factor or fear of childbirth are the most important. Conclusions: The birth plan currently on offer is only partly tailored to women's areas of interest. There are some issues, mostly identified as very important, that should form the basis of childbirth care rather than being an option: these are the aspects more connected to human relationships in childbirth. Other clinical issues, which present greater variability, must be offered for reflection, together with the information and support necessary for decision-making.