RSS
Home
Honesty in advertising at the OB/GYN
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
The sign posted at the Aspen Women's Center telling
patients to shut it or go elsewhere.
An OB practice in Utah has decided to be refreshingly upfront with pregnant women crossing their threshold: The doctors have posted a sign in front of their practice announcing that they have no intention of listening to the wishes of mouthy women and don't allow birth plans, doulas, or even the Bradley Method (which I admittedly haven't looked into since I was pregnant with my eldest, but which I remember as being mostly about making the father feel included in the process). Any patient wishing to retain her autonomy during her pregnancy is instructed to notify the nurse, so that she can be transferred elsewhere.
It's hard to decide whether these doctors should be commended for their honesty, instead of waiting to coerce a woman while she's in labor, or condemned for, well, for being so at odds with the well-being of their patients. Then again, as far as I can tell, these doctors consider their patients to be the fetuses; the pregnant women are, to quote the blog linked above, "no more than ... annoying, obstructive, hostile incubator[s]."
Perhaps the worst thing about this, though, is that many women will see that sign, and know that this practice will be bad for them, but will be unable to do anything about it -- beggars can't be choosers, and patients belonging to many insurance plans and/or who live in small towns or rural areas don't have a list of providers to choose from. If you don't like the practice assigned to you, you can pony up the $5000 plus it costs to deliver in a hospital, or have a home birth. And while I am a big proponent of home birth, I don't feel like it ought to be a woman's only choice.
So kudos for the honesty, doctors, but if you dislike dealing with pregnant women, I hear that dermatology is a very pleasant specialty.
In the meantime, have a look at this "OB's Birth Plan," via the link in the Hoyden About Town article (which "plan," note, was not only not brought up until the middle of the patient's pregnancy, but was handed to her husband. Nice.) It would be hysterically funny if it weren't for the horrifying reality of the thing. My favorite part is how all patients will be forced to deliver on their back with their feet in stirrups (possibly tied into the stirrups, as they did in the good old days) because it's the most comfortable for the patient. And allows the pelvis to open its widest. These lies are so blatant, you almost have to admire the chutzpah.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
