Ethics Consult: Force Woman to Have Baby-Saving C-Section?

— You make the call

by John Gever, Managing Editor, �鶹��ý May 22, 2020

Last Updated June 12, 2020

A patient’s eye view of a doctor lowering anesthesia mask onto their face

John Gever was Managing Editor from 2014 to 2021; he is now a regular contributor.

Welcome to Ethics Consult -- an opportunity to discuss, debate (respectfully), and learn together. We present an ethical dilemma in patient care (hypothetical for this edition); you vote on your decision in the case. Next week, we'll reveal how you all made the call. And stay tuned -- an ethics expert will weigh in next week with an ethical framework to help you learn and prepare.

You are an ob/gyn and one of your patients, a woman pregnant at 35 weeks, presents with her fetus in grave difficulty. You estimate the infant would have only a 30% likelihood of surviving an induced vaginal birth and you recommend an emergency cesarean section. But the woman refuses the procedure because she is adamantly opposed to any kind of anesthesia, including spinal block or other regional pain control. She wishes to proceed with a vaginal birth -- she believes the baby will be fine.

See the results and what an ethics expert has to say.

And check out some of our past Ethics Consult cases: Give COVID-19 Vax to Yourself Before Patients?, Walk Out Over Mask Reuse?, Take Elderly COVID-19 Patient Off Ventilator?