Susan McCutcheon

Drugs and medical technology can be enormously beneficial when used to take care of real complications, but too often they are abused when applied to women birthing normally. These women are thus subjected to unnecessary risks. The key to this problem is informed consent, an ideal too seldom realized. Informed consent means that no woman during pregnancy or labor should ever be deceived into thinking that any drug or procedure (Demerol, Seconal, spinals, caudals, epidurals, paracervical block, etc.) is guaranteed safe. Not only are there no guaranteed safe drugs, but many of them have well-known, recognized side effects and potential side effects.Informed consent should mean that no woman would ever hear such falsehoods as, __his is harmless,_ or, __ only give it in such a small dose that it can__ affect the baby,_ or, __his is just a local and won__ reach the baby.

But after years of teaching, we have decided that a lot of mothers just aren't reading textbooks.

Each woman must realize that she is the final guardian of her unborn child.