Gerty I think if you know what you want, and there are certain things that are important to you, it's worth writing a birth plan. Also good for your DP to have it written down, so that you know he understands exactly what you need and want, in the event he has to answer any questions on your behalf whilst you're sucking on the G&A :)
They are not always ignored, I think it varies from hospital to hospital, and mw to mw. A lot depends on how things go at the time. If everything happens very quickly you just might not get chance to put it into action. Or if, for example, you want a water birth but when the time comes all the pools are occupied, there's not much anybody can do about it.
So, this is a bit weird, and very likely TMI. This morning when I got up, I went to the loo, and there was a sort of menstrual smell. Thought maybe something was happening, like losing my plug. But when I wiped, nothing. No plug, no discharge of any kind actually. Am about to start googling, and searching previous threads, to see if this is common. Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone else has noticed similar?