Consent and Emergencies

You are a Year 5 specialist trainee (ST5) in obstetrics. You have been asked to review a patient by her midwife. The woman is a 30-year-old Polish lady in labour named Greta. This is her first pregnancy and she is full term. The midwife has established that her husband is on his way in. Her grasp of English is limited. She is in a lot of pain and not engaging with her midwife. The trace of her baby’s heart is classified as pathological. Her liquor is stained with meconium. The clinical picture indicates that the baby is in distress and needs delivering immediately by a caesarean section to prevent intrauterine death.

• What clinical problems can impact on gaining adequate consent to treatment?
• What could you do if Greta refuses to consent to an emergency caesarean section?

Apply Theory (Specific Professional Healthcare Competencies + Clinical Medical Ethical Principles) to Practice in order to provide Optimal Patient-Centered Care (OPCC)

Source – Ethics Case Studies from Clinical Ethics and Law (Second Edition), Carolyn Johnston Penelope Bradbury