In the movie, “Gone With The Wind,” maid Prissy (played ) by Butterfly McQueen) declares to lead character Scarlett O’Hara Butler, "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies," after earlier protestations that she knew exactly what to do. Hospitals are now protesting allowing the use of video and still cameras in the delivery room until after the birth of the baby and I agree with that decision.
Parents are claiming that they have a right to take the pictures and many hospitals are responding that the medical staff has a right to privacy because of the ubiquitous posting of videos on the Internet. Because no national organization, including the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Hospital Association, is tracking statistics on how many hospitals allow photography, it is impossible to tell how many hospitals have instituted the ban.
Dr. William C. Hamilton, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Meritus, Medical Center in Maryland said, “Deliveries are complicated. No one wanted to be distracted. I’m not a baseball catcher with a mitt, just catching a baby.”
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston also bans cameras during births, said Dr. Erin E. Tracy, an obstetrician there who also teaches at Harvard Medical School. “When we had people videotaping, it got to be a bit of a media circus,” Dr. Tracy said, adding that the banning of cameras evolved through general practice rather than a written policy. “I want to be 100 percent focused on the medical care, and in this litigious atmosphere, where ads are on TV every 30 seconds about suing, it makes physicians gun shy.”
Certain events in life are supposed to be kept private like the actual moment of conception and the trip through the birth canal. I will happily view the video of your trip to the Grand Canyon, but please spare me the bloody birth of your child.
God forbid doctors be accountable for their actions. If people record births doctors will have to step up their game. I am all for it although I just don't want to see it. Seeing three was enough for me!
ReplyDeleteSue writes:
ReplyDelete"Ultimately, it should be the hospital's choice. However, what if something goes wrong at the fault of the doctor? It's all caught on tape!"