Ethical Issues in Your Practice

The ethical concerns that I have related to this dilemma are many . What is the doctor 's responsibility to try to stop the mother 's contractions What are the limits of the attempts that should be made to save the child ? Should the mother be allowed to risk her own life to attempt to save the life of a child that is probably not viable outside the womb Should the doctor plan a cesarean section despite the fact that the infant will probably die as soon as it is removed from the mother 's

br womb ? I can 't imagine making this decision personally , but many mothers are forced to make it every day . Here is the situation that lead to my ethical quandary

I have a patient who is 3 week ante partum and has had premature rupture of membranes . This condition could cause hemorrhaging for her and death of the infant in uterus . In layman 's terms , both she and the infant are at risk of death . She is starting to contract and the physician will not do anything since the fetus is not considered viable . The physician has described the issues of having a vaginal birth versus a cesarean section with this patient because the fetus is breech . The patient wants everything to be done to save this baby . As described above , the issues are exceedingly complex . The physician appears to have determined that the child is a lost cause and is thinking only of the health of the mother , but this is contrary to her wishes . Should the mother 's desire to save her child be allowed to override her own survival instincts And , what role , if any , should the child 's father have in decision-making process

My literature survey for this situation was amazingly frustrating . I expected there to be a great deal of study materials available regarding this . It is , in essence , the quintessential ethical debate : do you save the life of the mother or the life of the child ? And , there is the question of the doctor 's ethics . Should he be able to determine the best medical course of action if it is contrary to the mother 's wishes ? And who determines when a fetus is viable ? Can we allow it to be based on an arbitrary date

I found a lot of older research regarding the ethics of abortion and approaching the discussion of fetal viability from that point of view but there was nothing recent and nothing than dealt with miscarriages as opposed to abortion . And , there was nothing that talked about the discussion of the life of the mother versus the life of the child . I think this would clearly be a great place for additional study . I think specifically the ethical question of whether medical decisions should be made contrary to the patient 's wishes should also be considered . Right now , as a society , we allow a person to make their own decisions about their health care even...