Will informed consent become extinct???

Recently I attended a birth where the doctor told my client that studies have proven that women and babies have better outcomes when we "manage" labor. He cited "the Ireland Study" which at the time I had never heard of. There was a good reason for that. It was done before I was born. I am 38. That's been a while. I can't think of many studies that were done that many years ago that still hold water today.

Here is what we do know. Our cesarean rate as a nation is at an all time high - curently 31.8% as of 2007. This was a 48% rise from 1996. In 1970, the national cesarean rate was 6%. See date from fellow blogger:


With stats like that, how dare a doctor reference an outdated study to try to convince my client that she needs pitocin so that she will have her baby faster. Those statistics are a frightening look at what managing labor can do.

Most women never question what their doctor suggests. Many women go their entire lives thinking that they would have never gone into labor if they hadn't been induced because they were induced with all of their children at 41 weeks. One thing that statistically we do know....no one stays pregnant forever. Many women believe that it's a good thing that they had that cesarean for failure to progress because when the baby was born, he/she had a cord wrapped around their neck (maybe even twice). Cords are gently unwrapped from around baby's necks(during homebirths)the majority of the time, I would say. It is not an uncommon occurence.

Women are believing a lie that they are powerless in their birth process. They are being taught by providers that listening to their instincts is reckless and instead, they should completely trust the information from their doctor. Little do they know that it is the insurance companies that have more control over a doctors decisions and protocols. Dr's are threatened on a daily basis with unseen increase in their malpractice insurance if they don't follow the game plan. As long as no harm is done right?? Well, no visible harm. Sometimes, the harm of a interventive labor is to the woman's psychological well being. But hey, most lawsuits for that aren't successful, so it's as good of a risk as any. The doctor's malpractice insurance remains affordable.....and women everwhere don't understand why they feel they lost control of their whole experience? Informing and empowering????? I think not.