---

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists endores the pregnant patient's rights to understand her treatment and her options. These rights are summarized from The Pregnant Patient's Bill of Rights, prepared by the International Childbirth Education Association.

Each Pregnancy Patient has the Right...

• to be told of all possible alternatives and options in treatment and procedures.
• to choose for herself, without pressure from any health care provider, whether or not she and her baby will accept drugs, treatments, and procedures.
• to be informed of the effects and risks of drugs and procedures on her and her baby.
• to know the names and qualifications of anyone who treats her.
• to be accompanied through labor and birth by a friend, partner, or family member.
• to labor and birth in the position most comfortable to her, if it's medically sound.
• if she does not care for or get along with a nurse or staff member, to ask that a different one be assigned to her to care for her baby at her bedside, if her baby is healthy.