LETTERS

摘要

You report on UK doctors potentially warning of the risks of vaginal childbirth - as though it were a medical procedure (9 July, p 8). Try this thought experiment. Should we ask men to sign a consent form before they have sex? Surely men should confirm that they know the hazards of sex, including sexually transmitted infections, trauma to the penis and HIV transmission, to name just a few. If their partner gets pregnant, sex will involve them in lifelong financial and emotional commitments. It is just as absurd to suggest "consenting" to childbirth, which is also a physical and psychological event, not a medical "procedure". The doctors' proposal is based on a 2015 UK Supreme Court case, which involved a woman with a chronic disease affecting pregnancy. Why assume it is appropriate to extrapolate to every pregnancy? And is evidence about risk sound enough to inform choice about childbirth? The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) describes the available evidence as of low or very low quality.