E5: Autonomy, Authority, Coercion & Consent: Who Decides in Maternity Care?

Описание: People are shocked when they learn that the American College of OB/GYN (ACOG) says that women and pregnant people have the final say in medical decision making. Jen Kamel, founder of VBAC Facts®, discusses the principles of informed decision making in the context of vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) versus repeat cesarean. Emphasizing the ethical obligations in healthcare, Jen explores ACOG's Committee Opinion on respecting a pregnant woman's autonomy and decision-making rights. Real-life testimonials from petite readers who had successful VBACs highlight the possibilities and challenge common misconceptions. The episode also addresses ethical dilemmas, coercion, and the importance of respectful and supportive communication between healthcare providers and birthing people, especially when recommended treatments are refused.

01:23 VBAC Wins: Petite Readers Share their VBAC Stories!
04:02 ACOG's Ethical Guidelines on Refusal of Treatment
07:57 The Importance of Informed Consent
11:34 Ethical Dilemmas in Obstetric Care
33:35 Directive Counseling vs. Coercion
36:58 Ethical Guidelines Against Coercion in Obstetrics
38:45 Medical Professionals are Lifeguards, Not Gods
41:03 Documenting Patient Refusal of Treatment
41:47 Arguments Against Court-Ordered Interventions
46:35 Barriers to Needed Care and Discriminatory Effects
49:35 Effective Communication and Patient Understanding
59:59 Decisional Capacity and Emergency Cases
01:07:02 Supporting Patients and Healthcare Teams Post-Adverse Outcomes
01:09:29 Conclusion and Call to Action

Have a comment or question for the podcast? Want to suggest a guest we should interview or a topic we should discuss? Go to https://vbacfacts.com/podcast to give us your feedback!

VBAC Facts® resources
Petite readers share their VBAC story on Facebook and Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/100063753092... & https://www.instagram.com/p/DCKamOfzz...
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2016). Refusal of medically recommended treatment during pregnancy. Committee Opinion No. 664. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 127, e175-82. https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinica...
Article: Vaginal birth after two cesareans (VBA2C): An overview of the evidence: https://vbacfacts.com/vba2c
Article: Vaginal birth after three or more cesareans (VBA3C/VBAMC): An overview of the evidence: https://vbacfacts.com/vba3c
VBAC Facts® professional membership: where we house a library of continuing education trainings including The Truth About VBAC™ for Professionals, The Limited Evidence on VBA3+C: Decision Making in the Midst of Uncertainty, and The Truth About VBA2C: Risk, Rates, & Outcomes: https://vbacfacts.com/membership
Our course for people with prior cesarean(s): "The Truth About VBAC™ for Families:" https://vbacfacts.com/vbaccourse
Schedule an in-person training in your community: https://vbacfacts.com/speaking
Schedule a consulting call with Jen: https://vbacfacts.com/consulting

Studies mentioned
"One study found that over half of the people who had a cesarean for FTP, failure to progress, were not six centimeters, which is one of the criteria they need to meet in order to receive that diagnosis." Zhang, J., Troendle, J., Reddy, U.,et al. (2010). Contemporary cesarean delivery practice in the United States. The American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 203(4), 326.e1-326.e10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

Music produced by (Analogue)/(prod. Analogue).
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