Did you know you can refuse routine interventions and ask for more clarification on the risks and benefits of these interventions? On this episode of “Yoga| Birth|Babies,” I speak with founder of Birth Monopoly and co-creator of the Exposing the Silence Project, Cristen Pascucci. Cristen and I have a lively conversation about informed consent and implied consent in maternity care. This episode reveals what your rights are as a pregnant and birthing person.
Feeling more involved in the decision making of one’s birth experience has shown to leave the birthing person feeling more positive about their birth. Please take the time to listen to this talk to better support yourself and your family.
In this episode:
- What brought Cristen to moving away from working in a PR firm to starting Birth Monopoly?
- What does implied consent mean in maternity care?
- The difference between informed consent and implied consent?
- What are your rights in labor and birth once you have been admitted to the hospital and signed a general consent form?
- Reviewing the ACOG’s statement: “That informed consent is ‘the willing acceptance of a medical intervention by a patient after adequate disclosure by the physician of the nature of the intervention with its risks and benefits and of the alternatives with their risks and benefits.’”
- How and when to encourage this conversation to take place since the middle of labor or facing a time crunch for a suggested procedure may be difficult to comprehend these things.
- The importance of aligning with care provider supporting your rights of refusal and supporting your birth vision.
- Is there anything a person cannot refuse during labor and birth?
- Language to use to help a person or their birth posse advocate for themselves without becoming adversarial or being labeled “the problem patient” and still creating a friendly, human connection.
- Is there ever a bottom line that if the birthing person is refusing treatment but the medical staff believes the birthing person and/or the baby are in danger they have a right to override their right to refuse treatment?
- Why are people’s rights to make decisions and autonomy in birth being violated?
- Visible improvements in maternity care with the rise of more mainstream birth activism.
- What else Cristen is up to and where to find her!
About Cristen:
Cristen Pascucci is A former communications strategist at a top public affairs firm in Baltimore, Maryland, Cristen Pascucci is the founder of Birth Monopoly and Birth Monopoly’s Doula Power group, co-creator of the Exposing the Silence Project, and, from 2012 to 2016, vice president of national advocacy organization Improving Birth. She has run an emergency hotline for women facing threats to their legal rights in childbirth, created a viral consumer campaign to “Break the Silence” on trauma and abuse in childbirth, and helped put obstetric violence and the maternity care crisis in national media. Today, she is a leading voice for women giving birth, speaking around the country and consulting privately for consumers and professionals on issues related to birth rights and options. Cristen is also the host of Birth Allowed Radio as well as executive producer of a documentary film planned for release in 2019 to start a national conversation on obstetric violence, birth trauma, and women’s rights in birth.
Cristen’s Projects:
