Florida Hospital Demands Woman Undergo Forced C-Section

[theHandpuppet]

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/07/25/florida-hospital-demands-woman-undergo-forced-c-section/
Florida Hospital Demands Woman Undergo Forced C-Section
by Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief, RH Reality Check
July 25, 2014

In an action that appears to be increasingly commonplace, a Florida hospital has threatened to force a pregnant patient to undergo cesarean surgery against her will, or to report her to child welfare authorities for attempting to exercise her right to make the medical decisions she deems best for herself and her family.

Jennifer Goodall of Coral Gables was informed in a July 10 letter from the chief financial officer of Bayfront Health Port Charlotte that because she decided to attempt vaginal delivery before agreeing to cesarean surgery in her fourth pregnancy, her prenatal care providers intended to report her to the Department of Children and Family Services, seek a court order to perform surgery, and perform cesarean surgery on her “with or without [her] consent” if she came to the hospital.

A complaint on behalf of Goodall was filed in federal court last week by National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) and Florida attorney Patricia E. Kahn, seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the hospital from carrying out its threats. Federal District Judge John E. Steele denied the request, stating in part that Goodall has no “right to compel a physician or medical facility to perform a medical procedure in the manner she wishes against their best medical judgment.”

Goodall is now 41 weeks pregnant and has told her lawyers she is terrified to enter a hospital. Given this and the weight of medical evidence in Goodall’s favor regarding the safety of the delivery she wanted to have, it is unclear whether the hospital or the courts are considering “best medical judgment” and in whose interest they are acting.... MORE

[FarPoint]

1. I see this as CYA legal manoeuvering.

Without a detailed clinical OB history to reference.... I'm sensing the practitioners may very well know the pregnancy requires a C-Section ...the life of the baby and mother face imminent danger. Such action by the physicians can be evidence for them trying to avoid a predictable tragedy.

[likesmountains 52]

2. She has had 3 previous C-Sections and no vaginal births...

I think that where I work they would let her labor for a while, then decide....but I think the writing in on the wall for her. The previous incisions certainly are a weak spot on her uterus.

[FarPoint]

3. She may have other clinical conditions which raise the bar of concern.

She could be diabetic for example... She may be obese; lots of issues not shared could be imposing a major concern for a healthy delivery. Why did she have 3 prior C-Sections? This conversion to going vaginal after a previous C-Section is not a new change.. Been happening for at least 15 years.

[niyad]

4. am glad the article pointed out that the US has one of the highest rates of c-sections in

the world.



Medical and public health bodies have long criticized the high rate of cesarean sections in the United States. The World Health Organization points out that at the current rate of 30 percent of all deliveries, cesarean sections in the United States far exceed what should normally be between 5 to 10 percent of all deliveries. ACOG agrees. “The current cesarean rate is undeniably high and absolutely concerns us as ob-gyns,” ACOG President Richard N. Waldman said in a statement. “[ACOG's] VBAC guidelines emphasize the need for thorough counseling of benefits and risks, shared patient-doctor decision making, and the importance of patient autonomy. Moving forward, we need to work collaboratively with our patients and our colleagues, hospitals, and insurers to swing the pendulum back to fewer cesareans and a more reasonable VBAC rate.”