Birth plan - legal and medical aspects

A birth plan is a document that defines mother's preferences and expectations regarding childbirth and early puerperium. The purpose of the birth plan is to establish communication about mother's birth wishes and to properly convey them to the health care providers. With increasing computerization of society, birth plan is currently the subject of heated debate. In this article, we present historical view of the birth plan, as well as current legislation regarding the birth plan, as we do not consider legal awareness of obstetricians to be sufficient at the moment. The purpose of this article is to appeal to the professional public so they have up-to-date information about the birth plan, especially in discussions with patients, but also during forensic procedures. The preservation of excellent perinatological results under our circumstances is only possible by providing professional, empathetic and very intimate health care in hospital institutions.