Pregnant patients' rights

Pregnant patients' rights refers to pregnant women's rights regarding medical care during the pregnancy and childbirth. It refers specifically to a patient's rights within a medical setting and should not be confused with pregnancy discrimination.

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), convened in Cairo by the United Nations in September 1994, adopted a Programme of Action which set goals for all countries to reach by 2015. Among these goals, the Programme of Action urges countries to make available education and services for medical care during pregnancy and delivery and during the postnatal period. It also urged the availability of referral for further diagnosis and treatment for complications of pregnancy and delivery.

United States
In the United States, medical services during pregnancy and especially during labor and delivery began to increase drastically in the 1930s. In the 1950s, advocacy groups raised concern about medical services that were possibly unnecessary or even harmful to the mother, child, or both, and began to urge that pregnant women have the right to refuse such services.

In 1987, Angela Carder, a pregnant cancer patient, died along with her baby at George Washington University Medical Center after a court-ordered Caesarian section. As a result of this case, beginning in the early 1990s, hospitals began to set policies stating that decisions regarding pregnant patients would be made by the patient herself, her family, and her doctors.