Wednesday, May 13, 2009

A Different Kind of Consent Form

I am so pissed off at the lack of patient choice and the asinine mentality of doctors here. I am very, very frustrated. So, I thought I would vent some of that frustration by doing something semi-constructive. To that end, I wrote my own consent form. After all, if the doctor wants me to sign theirs, they should sign mine first.

Here 'tis.

I, the undersigned physician, have, in violation of the Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, the Patient Self Determination Act, the ethical guidelines of the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Constitutional Law (the right to privacy and self determination protected by the 1st and 14th amendments), international tort law, and case law (of particular interest "In re A.C.", 1987, "In re Fetus Brown, 689 N.E.2d 397, 400 (Ill. App. Ct. 1997)", and "In re Baby Boy Doe, 632 N.E.2d 326 (Ill. App. Ct. 1994)") and the Patient Rights as determined by this institution, deprived my client,________________, of her right to self determination and her right to bodily integrity by ignoring her repeated refusal for delivery by repeat cesarean section. I acknowledge that by refusing to honor my client's denial of consent, I have not only violated the above laws, but I also affirm that I have used unwarranted and unethical pressure including emotional threats to my client's and her unborn child's life and safety, in my attempts to obtain such consent. I further affirm that I have stressed the risks of vaginal birth after cesarean, but neglected to inform my patient of the risks of delivery by repeat cesarean section. I further affirm that I understand, that should I resort to physical force, including but not limited to physical or chemical restraints to compel my client's cooperation, I will be guilty of criminal battery, which is defined as "any form of non-consensual touching or treatment that occurs in a medical setting".

In compensation for the above violations of my client's rights, I hereby guarantee the following:

a healthy baby, born in perfect condition, with no physical, mental or developmental defecits whatsoever, whether arising from surgery or any other cause

no complications for the infant, including but not limited to: persistent pulmonary hypertension, transient tachypnea of the newborn, respiratory distress syndrome, iatrogenic prematurity, lacerations, or hematoma

a speedy, uncomplicated post-operative recovery for my client. Specifically, I guarantee that my client shall not experience nerve damage, organ damage, hemorrhage (whether sufficient to require transfusion or not), disability or disfigurement, intraoperative or postoperative infection of the wound or surrounding skin and tissues, post partum depression and post partum post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other conditions not listed here.

Signed,

36 Comments:

OpenID meanestmommy.com said...

I love it! Your doc should definitely sign. It's only fair. ;)

Lisa H.
www.ican-online.org

11:29 PM  
Blogger Sheridan said...

This is great! I just blogged about it on my blog.

5:40 PM  
Blogger Lisa said...

I love it. It would be hilarious to actually put that on my former OB's desk (with some tweaking, as I'm Canadian). Brilliant.

5:53 PM  
OpenID labortrials said...

So glad Sheridan pointed this out to me. I "feel" your pain - I'm gonna be dealing with this shorty. In fact, I have a list of questions for my OB tomorrow morning...

~ Kimberly
26-27 pregnant with twin girls
http://labortrials.wordpress.com

6:28 PM  
OpenID agentlerbirth said...

Ah, now would you agree to mediation if there were cause? Let's see, include compensation for all the outside resources that may be needed to help with younger children, housekeeping, or compensate your partner's employer for them having to take time off from work. Oh, maybe said employer should sign on to this form as well! I wonder if the hospital should be given a copy of the form and be made to sign on as well provided they can show they would have no bias during your labor....... *smirk*

6:47 PM  
Blogger kittyclub2005 said...

I like that

7:41 PM  
Blogger Diana J. said...

Wow, that was brilliant!!

8:20 PM  
Blogger smedway said...

This is amazing. My husband is an attorney and said "Wow... a really angry lawyer wrote this..." It has all the right legalese.

I did notice the comment about the Dr. compensating you for being incapable of caring for your other children, driving to the store or doing anything that might require walking for the 30 days they state you need to recover.

I did have a successful "VBAC" although i loath that term. It took 5 days to recover fully compared to the 20 days it took to recover with my first.

8:21 PM  
Blogger TheFeministBreeder said...

I linked you up, so expect some traffic over here! Thanks again!

8:57 PM  
Blogger TanyaBee said...

LOVE this! Good for you. :) I pray your upcoming birth will be fantastic---I had a VBA*4*Cs last fall, and it rocked!
Thanks for writing this! :)

11:02 PM  
Blogger Wendy said...

Fabulous! I'll be sharing this with others.

3:12 AM  
Blogger Eva said...

Love it!!!!!

6:09 AM  
Blogger Aimee said...

Cudos to you. I plan to share this widely. As a lawyer/doula, I couldn't agree more that you have done a spectacular job. I'm only sorry it's less funny because it's SOOOOO truly necessary. The vast majority of OBs should in fact sign this document because the bullying and threatening they do prenatally is unethical and unconscionable. Too many clients over the years told me there OB told them that if they even tried a "trial of labor" (don't get me started on that little gem), their baby would DIE! These creeps are still out there practicing obstetric medicine.
Birth trauma is real, and it's unnecessary. So much for the Hippocratic oath!

8:22 AM  
Blogger Elizabeth said...

This is great. I think I'm going to print it up and send it to my ex-ob/gyn who tried to force me into an unnecessary repeat c-section. Along with the pictures of my daughter being delivered vaginally. HA!! Fabulous!!!!!

10:07 AM  
OpenID birthinjoy said...

GREAT post! I am definitely going to be linking this on my own blog.

10:57 AM  
Blogger K said...

Great post.

I'd take the recovery from my third degree tear ANY DAY over taking over six months before being able to sit up without rolling to my side first.

C-sec recovery is the worst.

They told me not to lift anything over ten pounds. Um, so I shouldn't dress my 9.5 lb boy?

11:28 AM  
Blogger Mama to Monkeys said...

LOVE this.

Love it.

Love it.

LOVE IT!

You are brilliant. :)

2:18 PM  
Blogger Alison Strobel Morrow said...

BRILLIANT.

Best of luck to you with your totally normal and not-a-big-deal-just-because-you-had-a-c/s birth. I switched to a midwife midway through my second pregnancy because my OB became less and less supportive of a vaginal birth as the months went on. I had a homebirth and it was phenomenal. Can't wait to read your success story!

6:46 PM  
Blogger Reiza said...

"Wow... a really angry lawyer wrote this..."

Bwa ha ha ha ha!

OMG, that's perfect.

Giselle, you know I love this. I've already told you so, but I'm THRILLED to see others appreciate your work on this.

9:40 PM  
Blogger Pampered Mom said...

Love it!!

10:26 PM  
Blogger Kangaroo said...

WELL DONE.

10:34 PM  
Blogger Taryn Goodwin said...

Thank you for this! I plan to link this from my blog!!!

2:23 PM  
Blogger Giselle said...

Everyone: Thanks. I hope I don't have to use this. I really hope it stays tucked safely in my folder of "stuff" because I don't want to have to fight while I'm in labor. Still, I feel better having it there.

Reiza: Yeah. The number of "Are you a lawyer? That sounds like a lawyer wrote it." comments both here and on The Feminist Breeder's blog surprises me.

2:35 PM  
Blogger Giselle said...

Tanya: Bless you! I want to read your birth story!

2:36 PM  
Blogger harmony said...

Can you post a copy of what your Dr wanted you to sign? It would be interesting to compare what else is out there.

8:11 AM  
Blogger The Deranged Housewife said...

I love this idea and totally think you should do it, if necessary. Just to see his reaction, if nothing else!

I can totally relate, though. And the part that really sucked was how on board with me they were after my VBAC attempt ended in a c-section because my son was breech - like they'd been supportive of me the entire time. Whatever. I wrote about it on my blog if you want to check it out.

Keep fighting them! Good luck!

6:22 AM  
Blogger Sarah H said...

Yeah, My doc/midwife should have signed this. I had a repeat because I went to 41 weeks. my baby had pulmonary hypertension, spent 5 days in the NICU. Never again will I have a repeat!!

12:47 PM  
Blogger crunchymama said...

Amazing!

And if you haven't started researching unassisted birth yet- UBAC- check it out.

10:50 PM  
Blogger Adirondack Autumn said...

That is rich! I love it! None of those things can be guaranteed so c-section by extension does not protect him from a law suit! Bwahahaha!

2:19 PM  
Blogger R Andre said...

This post has been removed by the author.

7:25 PM  
Blogger sol said...

Maybe your physician took a hypocritical oath instead of a Hippocratic oath.

7:30 PM  
Blogger Nicole & Billy said...

As an attorney and c-sec victim myself, I want to say well done and THANK YOU! I am bookmarking this and will be using it in the not-so-distant future!

6:53 PM  
Blogger Corin said...

Great great great great. Found your post by way of Sheridan. Would love to share with my readers if you don't mind.

1:38 PM  
Blogger Mrs.B said...

Loved it

That is so very sad, I so would love to take midwifery training as I had to fight for my Vbac, policy is no vbacs, you have to drive hundred of miles to get one, or just be a bugger that won't give up at the hospital. Went in in labor , they said they would have to do a c-section and I said they could not do one without my consent and I would NOT consent to one. So they had one Vbac birth in the hospital that year. And I have had ladies who want one ask me how I got mine, but they said they can not do what I did.
Thanks for posting this link.

Oh also I have 4 daughters and i am so concerned about the type of care they will be forced to have when they start bearing children

Mrs.B

9:10 PM  
Blogger Wendyrful said...

Excellent! But so, so sad!!! That a woman has to work/fight this hard in order to have a normal natural birth. Something that should be part of a normal bodily function at it's baseist...
I, along with so many others, am linking this to my blog. I hope that is o.k.
And... we've talked & joked for several years now about needing to be a lawyer/doula, in order to be able to truly help mom's in today's birth climate!

9:15 PM  
Blogger Aquarian Bath said...

You are my new hero!

1:56 AM  

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home