Pregnant Patients' Rights in The United States - Specific Rights Advocated

Specific Rights Advocated

Advocates endorse a pregnant patient's right to participate in medical decisions that may affect her well-being and that of her child. Specifically, these include but are not limited to the right to know the effects and risks to both the woman and the child associated with a drug or procedure, as well as the right to know about additional and alternative treatments.

Some groups, such as the American Hospital Association in its "Patient's Bill of Rights", advocate additional rights, including rights to the following:

• To receive medical assistance regardless of where the patient gives birth (whether at home, in a hospital, etc.).
• To refuse drug treatment of any kind.
• To be accompanied during labor and birth by a person or persons she cares for and to whom she looks for emotional support.
• To labor at her own pace without intervention if she chooses.
• To choose her own birthing position.
• To keep her baby at her bedside immediately after birth if the baby does not require specialized care, and to feed the baby according to a schedule she decides rather than according to a standard hospital regimen.