Birthing Consent: Supporting Shared Decision Making and Informed Consent in Labour and Childbirth

Birthing Consent: Supporting Shared Decision Making and Informed Consent in Labour and Childbirth
Book Chapter
Laura Pascoe
Consent: Gender, Power and Subjectivity, 2023 [Routledge]
Abstract
Labour and childbirth are vulnerable yet powerful experiences for birth givers. In an ideal world, women and other birth givers are active and informed participants in their care and their consent is sought throughout labour, birth, and postpartum by their health providers. Due to competing interests and the medicalization of childbirth, however, many birth givers are unprepared for the choices they may face or are unaware that the decisions presented to them are theirs to make. Highlighting the perspectives of midwives and doulas who take a normal and physiologic approach to birth, this chapter explores why informed consent in labour and childbirth is so important, what gets in the way of informed consent, and concrete strategies to best facilitate informed consent. In particular, this chapter examines how health providers and doulas can facilitate informed consent to ensure that no matter what the birth experience, birth givers feel respected, cared for, and heard.