What happens when the medical record doesn't match the birth experience?
This week, Blyss and Stu dive into one of the most uncomfortable, but critically important topics in maternity care: documentation, informed consent, and the ways language can shape a family's entire birth experience.
Using real-world examples, published legal cases, hospital consent forms, and an anonymous patient story, they examine how documentation can influence clinical decisions, legal outcomes, and patient autonomy. They discuss the difference between genuine informed consent and liability-driven documentation, why wording matters, and how routine practices can become normalized before parents even realize they have options.
Whether you plan to birth at home, in a birth center, or in the hospital, understanding how consent, documentation, and communication intersect can help you become a more informed participant in your own care.
References:
Girls Who Know: girlswhoknow.com (code instincts for 15% off)
Case Law Update: Gawthrop v Bendigo Health [2026] VSC 157
https://bravelegal.com.au/gawthrop-v-bendigo-health-vaginal-examination/
Melissa Philippe Facebook Post
The Doula Group on Facebook
Johns Hopkins: Delivering Your Baby
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/delivery
Discussed in This Episode
- What true informed consent should look like
- How documentation can influence legal and medical narratives
- The difference between physiologic birth and procedure-based birth education
- Why coercive language matters
- A court ruling that recognized non-consensual vaginal exams as assault.
- How fear-based counseling can affect birth decisions
- Why birth education before labor is more important than ever
Podcast Produced by: Raquel Hernandez, Pride and Joy Doula Care
This show is supported by
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