Not Everyone is Looking for the Same Care
Your ideal plan for pregnancy and birth, may not be the ‘stock standard’ care that is offered to most women. Is that okay? Are you able to request care that is ‘outside the norm’? Of course, but many couples are not aware that this is possible, so they find themselves going along with the care that is being suggested.
As consumers become more informed, understand the guidelines and policies and other directives that guide a care providers perception of how they should offer care, they’re looking for individualised care, which suits their own unique circumstances and wishes for antenatal care, labour and birth.
Every competent woman has the right to refuse medical treatment, yet too often women are presented with rigid expectations, or hospital policies, are not fully informed and can face difficulties accessing care.
The Maternity Care Plans aren’t well used, or even offered to many mothers wanting individualised care, often outside hospital policy. But it is a legal document, and needs to be kept with all your other documentation. In HypnoBirthing classes, we are teaching couples about all their options, and how they an put that into a birth plan. This birth plan is then discussed with their care providers, and the maternity care plan is agreed upon.
A recent study found for VBAC and VBAC>2 births, those with a maternity care plan were more likely to birth vaginally (VBAC2 success rate 66.7% with maternity care plan, 17.5% without, vaginal breech birth success rate 50% with maternity care plan and 32.5% without.
More information in this study here:
http://www.womenandbirth.org/article/S1871-5192(15)00055-4/fulltext
Read more about Knowing All Your Options and How to Choose Your Care-providers Carefully.
