Informed consent and refusal

The research on consent in maternity care is mostly qualitative and observational. Studies describe how consent is sought and understood in specific situations: interventions during the second stage of labor, vaginal examinations, planned caesarean section and its surgical risks, inductions of labor, and written consent for vaginal birth. One paper reports women who felt they could not say no to a vaginal examination, and another explores violations of women's autonomy in obstetric care.

Several papers take the practitioner's view, describing barriers to informed consent during childbirth and how clinicians support women in decision-making. A committee opinion from ACOG on informed consent and shared decision making in obstetrics and gynecology is also listed.

Parents commonly ask what consent means in labor, whether they can decline something and how to say so. The papers listed describe experiences and attitudes, and the research on how to improve practice continues. An educator may want slides that explain consent and refusal in plain terms and that reflect how people have described these moments. The papers below are the ones the Hub tracks on this topic.