Maternal delivery
During the week, I got a patient, Mary, who was very good at following her paternal sessions. Mary was dedicated to attending her clinics and was accompanied by her husband and sister. Mary only had a week to go before her delivery day, and her nurse ha reported that she had suspected Mary of taking alcohol to help with her marital depression, behind her family’s back. When Mary was asked, she denied, and when asked to take a drug test, she refused. Later that day, Mary came in with abdominal pains and her breath with alcohol. According to the hospital records, Mary had undergone two caesarian. The physical examination, however, was positive in terms of weight and blood pressure. The fetus was in a normal position, and her pulse rate was regular (Corsaro, 2011). However, in her past two visits, Mary complained of chest pains and coughed, and the nurse argued that she would not be able to survive standard delivery, vaginal delivery (Corsaro, 2011).
After consulting both Mary and her family, they suggested and preferred the vaginal delivery. However, the hospital feared that she might not survive the birth. The husband further threatened to sue the hospital if they operated on her since she was perfectly fit for standard delivery. The case was taken to the ethics committee. The dilemma in this case involved, if they delivered the baby the usual way, then there is a high chance that the mother, Mary, will not survive or the baby will not survive.
On the other hand, if they do the c- section procedure, there is a complication that may arise in the future. As the delivery physician, I decided to use the usual way of delivery on Mary but with the use of oxygen support to help Mary in breathing during childbirth (Miller, 2014). The procedure was okay, and she got a healthy baby Boy.
References
Miller, D. (2014). The Ethics of Hospital Regulations on Vaginal Births After Cesarean Sections. 7, 13-13.
Corsaro, M. (2015). Patient Requested Induction of Labor – Examining an Ethical Dilemma. 8, 15-15.