Preparing for labor: 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 medicines 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 medicines, 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
• to ask that a different nurse be assigned to her if she does not care for or get along with a nurse or staff member
• to care for her baby at her bedside, if her baby is healthy.