During childbirth you should be cared for and treated with respect - your rights are guaranteed. It is worth learning about the patient's rights in order to later know what we can demand in the hospital. If your rights are broken, you can seek justice from the Patients' Ombudsman.

Not everyone knows that people staying inhospitaland using medical services have certain rights.Patient rightsare there to protect patients' interests and empower them in relationships with he althcare professionals. These rights are not collected in a separate code, individual provisions are part of different laws (see box), so they are more difficult to grasp for a person unfamiliar with the law. They are especially important for a pregnant woman, especially during the special event of the birth of a child.

What do the rights of the patient in labor give you?

Patient rights are part of broadly understood human rights. They are based on the recognition of the inalienable dignity of human beings, their autonomy and freedom in all situations. What does it mean exactly?

  • The right to respect for intimacy and dignity .Means respect for the individual feeling of shame of each woman, which is violated by the need to expose oneself to strangers and talk about intimate matters. The patient should not be exposed to being seen during the examination by people other than those taking part in the study orgiving birth . The task of the hospital is therefore to provide an intimate admission room and a delivery room (it should be a single room, and when it is not, well insulating partitions between the beds are necessary), screens during the round of the postnatal room, making sure that the door is always closed, etc. Staff members should treat the patient subjectively, i.e. as a full human, and not as a medical case, i.e. introduce oneself, address her in a polite manner and avoid inflicting unnecessary pain (e.g. when suturing the perineum). If students assist in childbirth, the mother in labor must give her consent, and their number should be kept to a minimum.
  • Right to information. It means that you should be informed about your he alth, all procedures, medications and other activities. This right results from the constitutional right of an individual to determine himself and to protect his or her integrity.Violation of this law is, for example, lack of information about the state of he alth, manipulation of information (e.g. proposing oxytocin without informing that the contractions will be more painful), lack of information about the measures and treatments used, their purpose and effects, providing information only at the express request of the mother in labor, concealing information about complications in the mother and child.

  • Right to consent or refuse. Before any examination, treatment or administration of medication is performed, you should give your consent. In order for it to be valid, it must be preceded by clear information about the intervention it is intended to refer to. The method of expressing consent may be different: oral, written or the so-called implicit - when your behavior clearly indicates what your decision is. However, in the case of a surgery or intervention that creates a state of increased risk - it must be consent in writing. The most common violation of this law is treating the general consent to treatment, signed on admission to the hospital, as consent to all actions taken during the entire stay in the hospital. Meanwhile, such consent (the so-called blanket consent) is a remnant of the provisions that no longer apply today, so treatment undertaken only according to general consent is tantamount to acting without the patient's consent. For example, if the perineum was heavily incised, and you were not asked for permission to undergo the procedure, in the event of complications, you can apply for redress because the general consent was insufficient.

    • Important

    Legal regulation of patients' rights is included in a number of acts, in particular in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997, the Act of 6 November 2008 on patient rights and the Patient's Rights Ombudsman (Journal of Laws of 2009, no. No. 52, item 417); the Act of 5 December 1996 on the profession of a doctor and dentist (Journal of Laws of 2002, No. 21, item 204, as amended) and the Act of 5 July 1996 on the professions of a nurse and midwife (Journal of Laws of 2002, No. 21, item 204, as amended) 91, item 410). Regulations in this area are also included in the Code of Medical Ethics and the Code of Ethics for Nurses and Midwives.

  • The right to protection of private life and family ties. It ensures the right to personal, telephone or correspondence contact with relatives, as well as the right to care from relatives or others indicated by the patient. The latter right is especially important during childbirth and means that the mother in labor can benefit from the support of a loved one of her choice. Of course, like any other patient, the woman in labor also has the right to confidentiality of information related to the treatment and the right to access her medical records.

    • Pursuing the patient's rights

    While in hospitalyour rights have been violated, you can pursue them in an administrative or judicial manner. The investigation may seek to cease the breach of the law, punish the perpetrator of the breach of the law on the basis of official or criminal liability, and demand compensation for the harm suffered or compensation for the harm caused by the breach. The complaint may be submitted to the head of the he althcare facility, the self-government of medical professions (district medical chamber or the district chamber of nurses and midwives), law enforcement authorities (suspected crime) or a common court (in order to compensate for the damage suffered). At the beginning, however, it is worth contacting the Patient's Rights Ombudsman, who can initiate an investigation or at least indicate what legal measures you can take (how to contact the Ombudsman - see the box next to it). If the rights have been violated in a hospital that has a contract with the National He alth Fund, file a complaint with the patient ombudsman at the National He alth Fund (at the headquarters or at a given branch of the Fund).

    Where to go for help

    The Office of the Patient's Rights Ombudsman can be contacted by post - Al. Unia 25, 01-829 Warsaw, by phone - free helpline: 0 800 190 590 (Mon - Fri 9.00-21.00), tel. 22 831 42 81 ext. 364 or by e-mail - [email protected]. Website: www.bpp.gov.pl

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