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hey, ever heard of INFORMED CONSENT?
Jun. 16th, 2011 08:16 pmThere is no way for me to prove it (and if confronted, I seriously doubt she would admit it), but I highly suspect the midwife performed a membrane sweep while she examined me yesterday. WITHOUT MY CONSENT.
The American Medical Association defines informed consent as "a process of communication between a patient and physician that results in the patient's authorization or agreement to undergo a specific medical intervention."
Additionally, "...the legal term for failing to obtain informed consent before performing a test or procedure on a patient is called battery (a form of assault)."
For lack of hard evidence, my reasons for thinking she did so are speculative:
1. She made a point of verifying I was GBS negative before doing my exam. Membrane sweeps should not be performed on GBS positive mothers.
2. She took an awfully long time. And it was very uncomfortable. I've had a couple other exams, and neither took as long or felt as icky.
3. I had an awful backache for hours afterward. And nausea. And tummy upset (suddenly, after weeks of gastro gridlock). Further reading revealed that membrane sweeps release prostaglandins. Prostaglandins tend to "get things moving" intestinally.
4. At the beginning of the visit, she was overly concerned by my being "overdue" and was aggressively pushing induction. But after the exam, she seemed confident that I'd go into labor "any day" and emphasized that if my waters broke to notify the office immediately. Like I was just suddenly going to start gushing all over the place.
I am fucking angry. And even moreso because there is nothing I can do about it. I can't prove anything! THIS is exactly the kind of shit I've been going on about. Healthcare providers with overly-inflated egos who waltz in and do what they deem appropriate without discussing it with the patient, or even ASKING THE PATIENT'S PERMISSION. What's next? They'll jam some shit into my IV when I'm not looking?
And it's not even that I have an issue with membrane sweeps specifically. I just want to know what the fuck is being done to me. I want a chance to say no, or hey, let me think about it, or maybe next time. There is ZERO reason to meddle at this point. Why is my insistence on NO INTERVENTION so fucking threatening?
The American Medical Association defines informed consent as "a process of communication between a patient and physician that results in the patient's authorization or agreement to undergo a specific medical intervention."
Additionally, "...the legal term for failing to obtain informed consent before performing a test or procedure on a patient is called battery (a form of assault)."
For lack of hard evidence, my reasons for thinking she did so are speculative:
1. She made a point of verifying I was GBS negative before doing my exam. Membrane sweeps should not be performed on GBS positive mothers.
2. She took an awfully long time. And it was very uncomfortable. I've had a couple other exams, and neither took as long or felt as icky.
3. I had an awful backache for hours afterward. And nausea. And tummy upset (suddenly, after weeks of gastro gridlock). Further reading revealed that membrane sweeps release prostaglandins. Prostaglandins tend to "get things moving" intestinally.
4. At the beginning of the visit, she was overly concerned by my being "overdue" and was aggressively pushing induction. But after the exam, she seemed confident that I'd go into labor "any day" and emphasized that if my waters broke to notify the office immediately. Like I was just suddenly going to start gushing all over the place.
I am fucking angry. And even moreso because there is nothing I can do about it. I can't prove anything! THIS is exactly the kind of shit I've been going on about. Healthcare providers with overly-inflated egos who waltz in and do what they deem appropriate without discussing it with the patient, or even ASKING THE PATIENT'S PERMISSION. What's next? They'll jam some shit into my IV when I'm not looking?
And it's not even that I have an issue with membrane sweeps specifically. I just want to know what the fuck is being done to me. I want a chance to say no, or hey, let me think about it, or maybe next time. There is ZERO reason to meddle at this point. Why is my insistence on NO INTERVENTION so fucking threatening?
