Evolution of the birth plan.

Many birth professionals are discarding the birth plan as an outdated and ineffectual document. This column discusses the past limitations and present uses of the birth plan in an effort to enhance current teaching on how expectant parents can write and use this important document. Encouraging expectant parents to prepare two separate, but corresponding, birth plans-the "Discussion Birth Plan" and the "Hospital Birth Plan"-is proposed. Teaching suggestions and possible implications are explored in order to give childbirth educators practical information to share with their class members.