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Women in Labor: Some Issues About Informed Consent

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2020

Rosalind Ekman Ladd
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Abstract

Women wishing hospital admission for childbirth are asked to sign very general pre-admission consent forms. The use of such forms suggests that women in labor are considered incompetent to give informed consent. This paper explores some of the problems with advance directives and general consent, and argues that since women in labor are not generally incompetent, it is not appropriate to require this kind of consent of them.

Type
Research Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 4 , Issue 3: Special Issue: Ethics and Reproduction , Fall 1989 , pp. 37 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 by Hypatia, Inc.

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