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The Rights Of Childbearing Women
- Aug 14, 2008 at 10:41 PM
- By
- Comments (10) Total Views (368) Everyone can see this journal post.
The Rights of Childbearing Women
(Revised 2006)
(This document was compiled by Childbirth Connection, another important evidence-based resource for expectant parents. It is reprinted with permission here because Lamaze believes every woman should understand her rights that affect her pregnancy and birth and the care of her newborn. Normal birth is supported by the scientific evidence and by the fundamental rights listed below. Brochures describing these rights are available for download or purchase through Childbirth Connection.)
Fundamental Problems with Maternity Care in the United States
This statement was developed in response to serious and continuing problems with maternity care in the United States, including:
- The United States is the only wealthy industrialized nation that does not guarantee access to essential health care for all pregnant women and infants. Many women, especially those with low incomes, lack access to adequate maternity care.
- A large body of scientific research shows that many widely used maternity care practices that involve risk and discomfort are of no benefit to low-risk women and infants. On the other hand, some practices that clearly offer important benefits are not widely available in U.S. hospitals.
- Many women do not receive adequate information about benefits and risks of specific procedures, drugs, tests, and treatments, or about alternatives.
- Childbearing women frequently are not aware of their legal right to make health care choices on behalf of themselves and their babies, and do not exercise this right.
We must ensure that all childbearing women have access to information and care that is based on the best scientific evidence now available, and that they understand and have opportunities to exercise their right to make health care decisions. Women whose rights are violated need access to legal or other recourse to address their grievances.
The Rights of Childbearing Women
* At this time in the United States, childbearing women are legally entitled to those rights.
** The legal system would probably uphold those rights.
- Every woman has the right to health care before, during and after pregnancy and childbirth.
- Every woman and infant has the right to receive care that is consistent with current scientific evidence about benefits and risks.* Practices that have been found to be safe and beneficial should be used when indicated. Harmful, ineffective or unnecessary practices should be avoided. Unproven interventions should be used only in the context of research to evaluate their effects.
- Every woman has the right to choose a midwife or a physician as her maternity care provider. Both caregivers skilled in normal childbearing and caregivers skilled in complications are needed to ensure quality care for all.
- Every woman has the right to choose her birth setting from the full range of safe options available in her community, on the basis of complete, objective information about benefits, risks and costs of these options.*
- Every woman has the right to receive all or most of her maternity care from a single caregiver or a small group of caregivers, with whom she can establish a relationship. Every woman has the right to leave her maternity caregiver and select another if she becomes dissatisfied with her care.* (Only second sentence is a legal right.)
- Every woman has the right to information about the professional identity and qualifications of those involved with her care, and to know when those involved are trainees.*
- Every woman has the right to communicate with caregivers and receive all care in privacy, which may involve excluding nonessential personnel. She also has the right to have all personal information treated according to standards of confidentiality.*
- Every woman has the right to receive maternity care that identifies and addresses social and behavioral factors that affect her health and that of her baby.** She should receive information to help her take the best care of herself and her baby and have access to social services and behavioral change programs that could contribute to their health.
- Every woman has the right to full and clear information about benefits, risks and costs of the procedures, drugs, tests and treatments offered to her, and of all other reasonable options, including no intervention.* She should receive this information about all interventions that are likely to be offered during labor and birth well before the onset of labor.
- Every woman has the right to accept or refuse procedures, drugs, tests and treatments, and to have her choices honored. She has the right to change her mind.* (Please note that this established legal right has been challenged in a number of recent cases.)
- Every woman has the right to be informed if her caregivers wish to enroll her or her infant in a research study. She should receive full information about all known and possible benefits and risks of participation; and she has the right to decide whether to participate, free from coercion and without negative consequences.*
- Every woman has the right to unrestricted access to all available records about her pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum care and infant; to obtain a full copy of these records; and to receive help in understanding them, if necessary.*
- Every woman has the right to receive maternity care that is appropriate to her cultural and religious background, and to receive information in a language in which she can communicate.*
- Every woman has the right to have family members and friends of her choice present during all aspects of her maternity care.**
- Every woman has the right to receive continuous social, emotional and physical support during labor and birth from a caregiver who has been trained in labor support.**
- Every woman has the right to receive full advance information about risks and benefits of all reasonably available methods for relieving pain during labor and birth, including methods that do not require the use of drugs. She has the right to choose which methods will be used and to change her mind at any time.*
- Every woman has the right to freedom of movement during labor, unencumbered by tubes, wires or other apparatus. She also has the right to give birth in the position of her choice.*
- Every woman has the right to virtually uninterrupted contact with her newborn from the moment of birth, as long as she and her baby are healthy and do not need care that requires separation.**
- Every woman has the right to receive complete information about the benefits of breastfeeding well in advance of labor, to refuse supplemental bottles and other actions that interfere with breastfeeding, and to have access to skilled lactation support for as long as she chooses to breastfeed.**
- Every woman has the right to decide collaboratively with caregivers when she and her baby will leave the birth site for home, based on their conditions and circumstances.**
Comments:
PATIENT RIGHTS
The concepts of informed consent and the right to refuse treatment are supported by constitutional law (the right to privacy and self-determination protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments); federal law (the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the Patient Self-Determination Act); international tort law; as well as state laws and stated-mandated medical ethics. They are also covered in the ethical guidelines of the American Medical Association(AMA) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
These laws provide all patients, pregnant or not, with certain fundamental rights:
The right to exercise self-determination and autonomy in making all medical decisions, including the decision to refuse treatment.
The right to bodily integrity. Any form of non-consensual touching or treatment that occurs in a medical setting constitutes battery.
The right to be provided with the necessary information on which to base medical decisions, including a diagnosis; recommended treatments and alternatives; the risks, benefits, discomforts and potential disabilities of proposed medical treatments; realistic expectation of outcomes; a second opinion; and any financial or research interests a physician may have in proposing certain treatments.
The right to be informed of any potentially life-threatening consequences of a proposed treatment, even if the likelihood of experiencing such and an outcome is rare.
The right to make medical decisions free from coercion or undue influence from physicians.
The right to have informed medical decisions witnessed, signed, and documented by the attending physician and another adult.
The right to revoke consent to treatment at any time, either verbally or in writing.
so why don't i have the right to a homebirth VBAC :( studies are showing in my favour.....
We also have the right to say no! I learned that too late
I wish #12 was true, but doctors have the right to charge for that access, thus, restricting it from people like me, who can't just drop $50 to read my own records.
From The Birth Survey
The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) is a coalition of individuals and national organizations with concern for the care and well-being of mothers, babies, and families. Our mission is to promote a wellness model of maternity care that will improve birth outcomes and substantially reduce costs. This evidence-based mother-, baby-, and family-friendly model focuses on prevention and wellness as the alternatives to high-cost screening, diagnosis, and treatment programs.
Preamble
Whereas:
- In spite of spending far more money per capita on maternity and newborn care than any other country, the United States falls behind most industrialized countries in perinatal morbidity and mortality, and maternal mortality is four times greater for African-American women than for Euro-American women;
- Midwives attend the vast majority of births in those industrialized countries with the best perinatal outcomes, yet in the United States , midwives are the principal attendants at only a small percentage of births;
- Current maternity and newborn practices that contribute to high costs and inferior outcomes include the inappropriate application of technology and routine procedures that are not based on scientific evidence;
- Increased dependence on technology has diminished confidence in women's innate ability to give birth without intervention;
- The integrity of the mother-child relationship, which begins in pregnancy, is compromised by the obstetrical treatment of mother and baby as if they were separate units with conflicting needs;
- Although breastfeeding has been scientifically shown to provide optimum health, nutritional, and developmental benefits to newborns and their mothers, only a fraction of U.S. mothers are fully breastfeeding their babies by the age of six weeks;
- The current maternity care system in the United States does not provide equal access to health care resources for women from disadvantaged population groups, women without insurance, and women whose insurance dictates caregivers or place of birth;
Therefore,
We, the undersigned members of CIMS, hereby resolve to define and promote mother-friendly maternity services in accordance with the following principles:
Principles
We believe the philosophical cornerstones of mother-friendly care to be as follows:
Normalcy of the Birthing Process
- Birth is a normal, natural, and healthy process.
- Women and babies have the inherent wisdom necessary for birth.
- Babies are aware, sensitive human beings at the time of birth, and should be acknowledged and treated as such.
- Breastfeeding provides the optimum nourishment for newborns and infants.
- Birth can safely take place in hospitals, birth centers, and homes.
- The midwifery model of care, which supports and protects the normal birth process, is the most appropriate for the majority of women during pregnancy and birth.
Empowerment
- A woman's confidence and ability to give birth and to care for her baby are enhanced or diminished by every person who gives her care, and by the environment in which she gives birth.
- A mother and baby are distinct yet interdependent during pregnancy, birth, and infancy. Their interconnected-ness is vital and must be respected.
- Pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period are milestone events in the continuum of life. These experiences profoundly affect women, babies, fathers, and families, and have important and long-lasting effects on society.
Autonomy
Every woman should have the opportunity to:
- Have a healthy and joyous birth experience for herself and her family, regardless of her age or circumstances;
- Give birth as she wishes in an environment in which she feels nurtured and secure, and her emotional well-being, privacy, and personal preferences are respected;
- Have access to the full range of options for pregnancy, birth, and nurturing her baby, and to accurate information on all available birthing sites, caregivers, and practices;
- Receive accurate and up-to-date information about the benefits and risks of all procedures, drugs, and tests suggested for use during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period, with the rights to informed consent and informed refusal;
- Receive support for making informed choices about what is best for her and her baby based on her individual values and beliefs.
Do No Harm
- Interventions should not be applied routinely during pregnancy, birth, or the postpartum period. Many standard medical tests, procedures, technologies, and drugs carry risks to both mother and baby, and should be avoided in the absence of specific scientific indications for their use.
- If complications arise during pregnancy, birth, or the postpartum period, medical treatments should be evidence-based.
Responsibility
- Each caregiver is responsible for the quality of care she or he provides.
- Maternity care practice should be based not on the needs of the caregiver or provider, but solely on the needs of the mother and child.
- Each hospital and birth center is responsible for the periodic review and evaluation, according to current scientific evidence, of the effectiveness, risks, and rates of use of its medical procedures for mothers and babies.
- Society, through both its government and the public health establishment, is responsible for ensuring access to maternity services for all women, and for monitoring the quality of those services.
- Individuals are ultimately responsible for making informed choices about the health care they and their babies receive.
These principles give rise to the following ten steps, which support, protect, and promote mother-friendly maternity services:
10 STEPS OF THE MOTHER-FRIENDLY CHILDBIRTH INITIATIVE
To receive CIMS designation as "mother-friendly," a hospital, birth center , or home birth service must carry out our philosophical principles by fulfilling the Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care:
A mother-friendly hospital, birth center, or home birth service:
- Offers all birthing mothers:
- Unrestricted access to the birth companions of her choice, including fathers, partners, children, family members, and friends;
- Unrestricted access to continuous emotional and physical support from a skilled woman-for example, a doula or labor-support professional:
- Access to professional midwifery care.
- Provides accurate descriptive and statistical information to the public about its practices and procedures for birth care, including measures of interventions and outcomes.
- Provides culturally competent care -- that is, care that is sensitive and responsive to the specific beliefs, values, and customs of the mother's ethnicity and religion.
- Provides the birthing woman with the freedom to walk, move about, and assume the positions of her choice during labor and birth (unless restriction is specifically required to correct a complication), and discourages the use of the lithotomy (flat on back with legs elevated) position.
- Has clearly defined policies and procedures for:
- collaborating and consulting throughout the perinatal period with other maternity services, including communicating with the original caregiver when transfer from one birth site to another is necessary;
- linking the mother and baby to appropriate community resources, including prenatal and post-discharge follow-up and breastfeeding support.
- Does not routinely employ practices and procedures that are unsupported by scientific evidence, including but not limited to the following:
- shaving;
- enemas;
- IVs (intravenous drip);
- withholding nourishment;
- early rupture of membranes;
- electronic fetal monitoring;
- Has an induction rate of 10% or less;
- Has an episiotomy rate of 20% or less, with a goal of 5% or less;
- Has a total cesarean rate of 10% or less in community hospitals, and 15% or less in tertiary care (high-risk) hospitals;
- Has a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) rate of 60% or more with a goal of 75% or more.
- Educates staff in non-drug methods of pain relief and does not promote the use of analgesic or anesthetic drugs not specifically required to correct a complication.
- Encourages all mothers and families, including those with sick or premature newborns or infants with congenital problems, to touch, hold, breastfeed, and care for their babies to the extent compatible with their conditions.
- Discourages non-religious circumcision of the newborn.
- Strives to achieve the WHO-UNICEF "Ten Steps of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative" to promote successful breastfeeding:
Other interventions are limited as follows:
- Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff;
- Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy;
- Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding;
- Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within a half-hour of birth;
- Show mothers how to breast feed and how to maintain lactation even if they should be separated from their infants;
- Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk unless medically indicated;
- Practice rooming in: allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day;
- Encourage breastfeeding on demand;
- Give no artificial teat or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants;
- Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from hospitals or clinics.
©1996 by The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services(CIMS).
Permission granted to freely reproduce in whole or in part along with complete attribution.
In 2007, The Journal of Perinatal Education published a systematic review of the evidence supporting each of the Ten Steps of the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI).The eight members of the Expert Work Group (EWG) that conducted the review were committed to mother-friendly care and had expertise in evaluating and in interpreting maternity care research.EWG members reviewed the entire body of current scientific literature related to each step. Using studies that met pre-determined quality criteria, EWG members provided evidence-based rationales for complying with each aspect of mother-friendly care. For each rationale, they then presented the quality, quantity and consistency of the supporting evidence. Because the MFCI is intended to address mother-friendly care in free-standing birth centers and home birth services as well as in hospitals, the EWG also reviewed the evidence for the safety and effectiveness of out-of-hospital birth. The resulting document, The Evidence Basis for the Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care, is remarkable because it represents the first time any individual or group has systematically reviewed an entire model of care. It provides strong evidence supporting the MFCI as the gold standard for maternity care. The document can be downloaded for free from the CIMS website here. Printed copies are also available for purchase through CIMS at a modest cost.
Is HIPAA Hiding the Wrong Kind of Secrets? - thefeministbreeder.com
August 16th, 2010
Is HIPAA Hiding the Wrong Kind of Secrets?
Anyone who has been to a doctor in the last dozen years has seen and signed the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act) form given out by their doctor or hospital. The HIPAA Privacy Rule was specifically designed to protect the privacy and integrity of personal health information collected by medical professionals about their patients.
Essentially this means that it is illegal to release the specifics of a patient case you may have either attended or witnessed. Thinking in terms of a laboring woman, what happens in her hospital room stays in her hospital room.
Doulas are not bound to HIPAA, but we do carry a professional code of ethics which makes it unprofessional to openly discuss our clients' cases. Some of us may gather in small circles to privately work out our thoughts on situations we may have been in, and try to grow our knowledge base by sharing experiences. However, it is considered quite unprofessional to openly discuss any identifying details of a specific mother's birth experience.
Of course, privacy is essential to trust. A woman cannot trust a provider who would willingly pass the details of her case around the internet for all the world to see. For the most part, it is nobody's business what happens during her labor.
Well, unless it IS.
Speaking in generalities, because I will not discuss specific cases, I can tell you that some things I've witnessed as a doula in a labor room have been nothing short of a crime. Women have the right to informed consent and refusal, and I have seen cases where that right is violated over and over again throughout a labor. According to the American Medical Association,
"Informed consent is more than simply getting a patient to sign a written consent form. It is a process of communication between a patient and physician that results in the patient's authorization or agreement to undergo a specific medical intervention...
...This communications process, or a variation thereof, is both an ethical obligation and a legal requirement spelled out in statutes and case law in all 50 states."
So what happens when a woman flatly refuses to give consent, and a physician performs a procedure without her authorization and against her will? Katherine Prown, Ph.D. tells us,
"The legal doctrine of informed consent/refusal developed from the laws on battery. In a medical setting battery is defined as touching or treatment that occurs without obtaining proper informed consent; medical treatments that are substantially different from the ones a patient consented to; treatment that exceeds the scope of consent; or treatment provided by a physician other than the physician who obtained the patient's consent. As case law on informed consent/refusal evolved, however, the courts increasingly defined lack of proper consent as a matter of negligence. Negligence requires that the lack of proper consent or failure to meet the standard of care resulted in emotional or physical harm worthy of monetary compensation. In certain circumstances in which monetary compensation is not an issue, though, the laws on battery may still apply."
Given this, I have borne witness to cases where a woman's rights are so flagrantly violated that it seems like an obscene injustice not to tell the world about what happened to her. But once the labor is over, the dozen or so people in that room simply move on to another labor, and because of privacy laws like HIPAA, nothing that happened is ever shared with the public.
You might be asking "Is it really that bad? Can it really, seriously be that bad?" You tell me. (**Trigger Warning**)
- I have seen a mother flat out refuse a procedure and/or treatment and the doctor say, verbatim, "You can say no, but we're doing it anyway." And they did. And nobody in the room could stop them.
- I've seen the mother's parents get into yelling matches with the nurse or doctor because the medical staff constantly coerced or threatened the laboring woman to the point of emotional distress.
- I've seen a doctor stand over a woman and force her to "pre-authorize" a major intervention that was neither wanted, needed, or ever actually used during the labor, and refuse to leave the room until her signature was on the paper - giving her no time to contemplate the decision or discuss it with her family.
- I've seen a woman scream "No, stop!" while trying to kick a doctor's hands out of her, as she tries climbing up the back of the bed to escape, while the doctor ignored her pleas and reaches farther into her vagina - blood curdling screams fill the room.
- I've had women cry and beg me to help them - to keep the doctor or nurse from doing whatever it is they're doing to them - and I can't help at all. Being a bodyguard is outside my professional scope of practice.
- I've seen a woman say she does not want an episiotomy, and the doctor say "Sorry" (snip, snip, snip) "I had to make some room."
On one hand, I'm glad I was there to help those women in whatever way I could. On the other hand, it's terribly stressful having witnessed crimes against women and know that professional secrecy will prevent everyone in that room from discussing what happened to her.
Of course the mother could take this information to the authorities, but that rarely ever happens. On one hand, as long as the mother came out with a healthy baby, nobody cares how she was treated in the process. She would need to have a damaged baby to have any sort of a legal case that an attorney would see worth his/her time. It's also quite easy for a laboring woman not to remember or understand the details of what was being done to her. She's in laborland - not taking minutes in a meeting. Women also have a hard time coming to terms with being violated.
This is the same reason so many women don't report rape. After the incident is over, they just want it to be over. They don't want to think about it, or drag it through a court system. They may think that it's partially their fault, or that going public may put their story under embarassing and unfair scrutiny. When I took my VBAC story to the Chicago Tribune, my obstetrician accused women like me of having a "control issue." No apology. No admission that his behavior was unethical and potentially illegal. He simply blamed me for not submitting to his violation. There are a million reasons women do not report violations, coupled with a million violators who continue to practice the way they do without anyone holding them accountable.
What can be done? At what point can we, who witness these crimes, open this can of worms and start talking about what is happening to individual women every single day in this system of ours? I know that it's not my place to file complaint about the way a woman was treated, but if there's no transparency, where does that leave us? I can tell you that it leaves me angry in my bones and feeling sick to my stomach.
In the mean time, I have to decide whether or not I can handle seeing any more of these hospital births, or if I should send women in to the lion's den without someone like me there to help them in whatever small way I can. It's a tough decision, and one that I may grapple with for a long time to come.
_______________________________________________________
The Rights of Childbearing Women
* At this time in the United States, childbearing women are legally entitled to those rights.
** The legal system would probably uphold those rights. 
Every woman has the right to health care before, during and after pregnancy and childbirth. 
Every woman and infant has the right to receive care that is consistent with current scientific evidence about benefits and risks.* Practices that have been found to be safe and beneficial should be used when indicated. Harmful, ineffective or unnecessary practices should be avoided. Unproven interventions should be used only in the context of research to evaluate their effects. 
Every woman has the right to choose a midwife or a physician as her maternity care provider. Both caregivers skilled in normal childbearing and caregivers skilled in complications are needed to ensure quality care for all. 
Every woman has the right to choose her birth setting from the full range of safe options available in her community, on the basis of complete, objective information about benefits, risks and costs of these options.*
Every woman has the right to receive all or most of her maternity care from a single caregiver or a small group of caregivers, with whom she can establish a relationship. Every woman has the right to leave her maternity caregiver and select another if she becomes dissatisfied with her care.* (Only second sentence is a legal right.) 
Every woman has the right to information about the professional identity and qualifications of those involved with her care, and to know when those involved are trainees.* 
Every woman has the right to communicate with caregivers and receive all care in privacy, which may involve excluding nonessential personnel. She also has the right to have all personal information treated according to standards of confidentiality.* 
Every woman has the right to receive maternity care that identifies and addresses social and behavioral factors that affect her health and that of her baby.** She should receive information to help her take the best care of herself and her baby and have access to social services and behavioral change programs that could contribute to their health. 
Every woman has the right to full and clear information about benefits, risks and costs of the procedures, drugs, tests and treatments offered to her, and of all other reasonable options, including no intervention.* She should receive this information about all interventions that are likely to be offered during labor and birth well before the onset of labor. 
Every woman has the right to accept or refuse procedures, drugs, tests and treatments, and to have her choices honored. She has the right to change her mind.*(Please note that this established legal right has been challenged in a number of recent cases.) 
Every woman has the right to be informed if her caregivers wish to enroll her or her infant in a research study. She should receive full information about all known and possible benefits and risks of participation; and she has the right to decide whether to participate, free from coercion and without negative consequences.* 
Every woman has the right to unrestricted access to all available records about her pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum care and infant; to obtain a full copy of these records; and to receive help in understanding them, if necessary.* 
Every woman has the right to receive maternity care that is appropriate to her cultural and religious background, and to receive information in a language in which she can communicate.* 
Every woman has the right to have family members and friends of her choice present during all aspects of her maternity care.** 
Every woman has the right to receive continuous social, emotional and physical support during labor and birth from a caregiver who has been trained in labor support.**
Every woman has the right to receive full advance information about risks and benefits of all reasonably available methods for relieving pain during labor and birth, including methods that do not require the use of drugs. She has the right to choose which methods will be used and to change her mind at any time.* 
Every woman has the right to freedom of movement during labor, unencumbered by tubes, wires or other apparatus. She also has the right to give birth in the position of her choice.* 
Every woman has the right to virtually uninterrupted contact with her newborn from the moment of birth, as long as she and her baby are healthy and do not need care that requires separation.** 
Every woman has the right to receive complete information about the benefits of breastfeeding well in advance of labor, to refuse supplemental bottles and other actions that interfere with breastfeeding, and to have access to skilled lactation support for as long as she chooses to breastfeed.** 
Every woman has the right to decide collaboratively with caregivers when she and her baby will leave the birth site for home, based on their conditions and circumstances.**
� 1999, 2006 Childbirth Connection
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Informed Consent
There has been a major push by the obstetrical industry to ensure that women are given the right of informed consent before any treatment or procedure is done. Basically, this means that women understand what is being done, why it is being done and the risk it entails.
The problem is that many women are not given the information they need during labor to ensure true informed consent. During labor the mother may not be listening to what is said, or have the attention span to listen to all the other options. There may not be time during labor to explain everything the woman needs to know.
It has become increasingly important for a woman to do her own research into the options available for handling labor and the birth process. This is not only due to the impossibility of learning everything she needs to know during office visits, but also because standards of care and the common interventions vary not only between communities, but also between caregivers. Never underestimate the value of a second opinion.
What do you need to know to give informed consent?
-
What is being recommended to you?
Is this a test, a medication or a procedure? Is this a one time event, or will it require several visits or administrations? -
Why is this being recommended?
Is this something that is recommended to everyone, or is there a reason to believe it will be helpful in your situation? -
What is this expected to do?
Is this going to relieve a problem, improve your health, manage discomfort or something else? In short, what should be different after you receive this. -
What are the risks of this?
The list of risks will vary with every procedure and medication. Do not accept the answer, "There is no risk involved." Every procedure has a risk, many procedures have a very small risk and it is easy to see that the benefits outweigh the risks, but that doesn't mean there is no risk.
It is also important to remember that some risks are not "physical." There may be no physical risk to wearing a hospital gown, but many women report that it changed the way they felt. So there is an emotional risk involved in wearing a hospital gown. -
What are the other options and their risks?
There is always another option, even if it is just to do nothing. Remember that the other options have risks too. -
What will we do if this doesn't have its desired effect?
No procedure, medication or intervention (natural or medical) is 100% guaranteed to work. What will be the next step if you decide to go ahead, and it doesn't work. How will having used it change the other options available to you?
Be sure to check out the Birth Messages, information about interventions in labor from Robbie Davis-Floyd.
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courtesy of vincenzio101407: "bait and switch" The Birth Plan Trap by Emily Jones
- doulala
Message Friend Invite (Original Poster)