Health care for your pregnancy is for your body (and your baby's). When there are decisions to be made, you are the one who must be able to make them. Pregnancy is not a passive circumstance, and it is your right to make decisions and ask difficult questions.

Informed Consent

One of the basic rules of medical care (and also a legal right) is that the patient must give informed consent to any medical care. This means that as a patient, you have the right to first be informed about the treatment, its benefits, risks, and potential side effects. Once you have been informed, it is up to you to decide what will be happening to your body. Health-care providers can act without your consent in an emergency situation, but in all other cases, it is up to you to weigh the choices and decide what you will agree to. It is your choice not to accept treatment (except in some situations where the baby might be in danger).

Making Decisions

Lots of women feel that they have been trained not to ask questions, offer opinions, or stand up for themselves in medical situations. The good news is that pregnancy is something that happens gradually, so you will have time to arm yourself with questions, do some research, and come to your appointments prepared to make decisions.

There are a lot of decisions to make during pregnancy. Your health-care provider is there to offer information and offer recommendations, but in the end, you are the one who must make the decisions. It can be easy to just go along with what your health-care provider recommends. However, if you take the time to educate yourself and consciously make the decision yourself, you will feel more secure in the decision you have made and more in control of your body and your life.

Sometimes it can be frustrating to have your health-care provider present you with choices because you may feel you simply aren't equipped to make that kind of decision. First of all, remember that in most situations, these are not decisions that must be made on the spot. If you are deciding whether or not to have an amniocentesis, you have some time to make that choice. Secondly, make sure you ask enough questions. Ask everything you can think of, no matter how silly it may seem. Your health-care provider cannot make your choices for you, but he can make a recommendation. If your health-care provider seems to only be giving you the facts, and not a recommendation, feel free to ask for one. One thing you can do is say, “If it were you sitting here in my shoes, what would you choose to do?” If you still are unsure of what you want to do, ask to have some time to think about it. Talking these decisions over with your partner or with close friends or family is another way to work through the choices. If it helps, bring someone with you to your appointments so that he or she will also hear what your healthcare provider is saying. Taking notes help you keep straight all of the information you've been given as well.

There are times when your health-care provider might seem to assume what your decision is without actually asking you to make a choice. If this happens, it's okay to slow things down, ask for more information, and take the time to make the decision yourself. Even if you ultimately make the decision that was being assumed, actively using your power to make that decision can make you feel you are in charge of your own body.

If a particularly controversial issue comes up, you should not hesitate to request a second opinion. Most competent physicians are not threatened by such requests because they are confident in their abilities and may actually welcome your discussing the issue with a second physician. Once the second opinion is rendered, both you and your doctor may feel more comfortable with your final decision.