Informed consent: do you know what it is?

nzpiper's post about peeing on sticks at MW appointments reminded me of how I stumbled across this alien concept of "informed choice and consent", halfway through my second pregnancy.

I was at the Homebirth Aotearoa Conference 2009, listening to a woman talk about how she declined to have any form of monitoring while she was pregnant with her third child.  No peeing on sticks, no scans, no monitoring bubs heartbeat, nothing.  Unless she requested it.  She trusted herself to know when things were going well, and to ask to have something checked if she felt she needed it.  Being a rather paranoid type myself, part of me was horrified at the thought of such an approach - in this day and age !  Yet I was also intrigued and a little in awe of her.  I found myself asking "Why ARE we offered all these tests/monitoring procedures/forms of medical intervention during pregnancy and labour?  Do we HAVE to do everything the midwife tells us?  Can we say no, we don't want to pee on a stick today?".

In NZ the “Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights” gives anyone (including a pregnant woman) who is receiving any health or disability service, the right (amongst others) to “receive a service only when you have made an informed choice and given your informed consent”.  The website I linked to above provides a good overview of how this relates to pregnancy, labour and birth.  A must read for every pregnant woman I reckon  . 

As Lynda Williams from the Maternity Services Consumer Council wrote in 2007:

"Pregnancy has now become a 9-month long medical event in which women are encouraged to subject themselves to frequent testing, data collection, and an increasing amount of technology in order to help guarantee a perfect baby, and a painless and stress-free birth.  What impact does this growing dependence on outside technology to confirm her health and that of her baby have on the woman and her experience of her pregnancy?  How does it impact on the ability of her body to care for her baby before birth, to give birth, and to breastfeed her baby after the birth?"

All thought provoking stuff, huh?    So, did you know about informed consent before reading this post?  Do you think you'll approach pregnancy/labour/birth any differently now?  Have you declined any type of medical intervention you've been offered already?