Consensus on the Structure and Content of Birth Plans: A Modified Delphi Study

Abstract

Background

Few pregnant women in France wrote birth plans as in many other countries. The literature stresses the heterogeneity of birth plan content, which limits the utility of assessing the effects of birth plans on women's experience of childbirth. This study aimed to obtain a French national consensus on the structure and content of birth plans.

Methods

A multidisciplinary steering committee was established. An electronic modified Delphi study was conducted to develop a structure and content for birth plans between November 2022 and June 2023. During three Delphi consensus rounds, panellists, including perinatal health care professionals and user representatives, were asked to rate individually and independently each proposed section and subsection formulation of the birth plan for its appropriateness. An external board assessed the understandability of the final birth plan's preamble and content.

Results

The steering committee proposed 103 formulations corresponding to items to be covered in a birth plan, categorized into 8 sections and 30 subsections, for evaluation in the Delphi rounds. The first round was completed by 42 panellists (mainly midwives), the second by 39, and the third by 36. Finally, the steering committee approved the final components of the structured birth plan in 8 sections and 19 subsections, after its reviewing by the 21 members of the external board.

Conclusion

A French national Delphi process, after three rounds and validation by an external board, made it possible to reach a consensus on the structure and content of a birth plan in 8 sections and 19 subsections.

Patient or Public Contribution

User representatives were included as experts in the Delphi rounds, and in the external board to approve the final version of the structured birth plan.