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A pregnant patient's rights
Every patient has certain rights. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists endorses the pregnant patient's rights to understand her treatment and her options.
These rights are summarized from The Pregnant Patient's Bill of Rights, prepared by the International Childbirth Education Association.
Each pregnant patient has the right:
- to be informed of the effects and risks of drugs and procedures on her and her baby
- to be told of all possible alternatives and options in treatment and procedures
- to choose for herself, without pressure from any health care provider, whether or not she and her baby will accept drugs, treatments, and procedures
- to know the names and qualifications of anyone who treats her
- to be accompanied through labor and birth by a friend, partner, or family member
- to labor and birth in the position most comfortable to her, if it’s medically sound
- if she does not care for or get along with a nurse or staff member, to ask that a different one be assigned to her
- to care for her baby at her bedside, if her baby is healthy
Related Links
Pregnancy Care: Locations and services
Source: Allina Patient Education, Beginnings: Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond, fourth edition, preg-ahc-90026, ISBN 1-931876-14-2; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
First published: 10/04/2002
Last updated: 06/01/2003
Reviewed by: Allina Patient Education experts