Birth trauma inquiry says legislation is needed to protect doctors from negligence claims
Doctors told the inquiry that fear of litigation in maternity care had created a 'risk-averse' system.
Doctors who provide “responsive” maternity care outside of clinical guidelines and hospital protocols because of individual patients’ needs should have protection from future litigation, a parliamentary inquiry has concluded.
Clinical guidelines remained necessary to ensure safety, according to the NSW Select Committee on Birth Trauma’s final report published last week.
But it acknowledged that too many doctors were backing away from some interventions amid fears of the medicolegal consequences.
“It is unacceptable to enforce standardised policies when informed consent has not been properly obtained or when the interventions are not in the best interests of the birthing woman,” the inquiry found.
