Can cesarean section be performed without the woman's consent?

Abstract

Occasionally, an obstetrician can experience conflicts between the mother and her fetus. In a situation where the life of the fetus is in danger, religious, cultural, or other convictions may cause the mother to refuse the physician's recommendations for delivery. When there is a medical indication to perform cesarean section, but the mother refuses, has the obstetrician then a right to perform a cesarean section to save the fetus from possible death or serious injury? In 1987, The Norwegian Directorate of Health made a statement on cesarean section without consent, but later, new legislation on patient rights has been introduced. In Norway, no scientific medical articles have been published on this topic, and no cases have yet been brought to court. Cases of court‐ordered cesarean section have been reported from the UK and the USA. In this report, we discuss some of the ethical, moral, and legal aspects of forced cesarean sections.

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“…There may also be religious, social and cultural reasons why such a patient may refuse the offer of a caesarean section, even if, the risks to her unborn baby, to herself or to both, have been explained, normally through interpretation. Other reasons may be include fear of anesthesia, pain, and even death, harm to the fetus or herself, [38]. Language barriers and socio-economic factors may be an important factor of communication failure of the gravity of the situation.…”

“…Language barriers and socio-economic factors may be an important factor of communication failure of the gravity of the situation. In a report from the United States, 81% of women refusing cesarean delivery were black, Hispanic, or Asian; 44% were unmarried; 24% did not speak English as their first language [38]. One must also bear in mind, that the patient may, in accepting a caesarean section on this occasion, be jeopardising any future childbearing, because, she may believe that "once a section, always a section. "…”

“…However, currently, the stress is on importance of consent as he core of autonomy, and hence medical treatment, in an adult of sound mind, whether the patient is pregnant or not [45]. There is little doubt that, generally speaking, both professionally and legally, maternal autonomy now demands respect [46] and patient choice or preference.…”

Revue de presse

“…Elle domine aussi la morbidité, en particulier pour les endomé-trites multipliées par 10,3 [5,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]9] [5].…”

“…Cette indication représenterait déjà aux États-Unis 5,03 % des premières césariennes [16]. [1] G. Boog, CHU de Nantes, France.…”