TY - JOUR T1 - The Ulysses contract in obstetrics: a woman's choices before and during labour JF - Journal of Medical Ethics JO - J Med Ethics SP - 27 LP - 30 DO - 10.1136/medethics-2012-100675 VL - 39 IS - 1 AU - Paul Burcher Y1 - 2013/01/01 UR - http://jme.bmj.com/content/39/1/27.abstract N2 - Women recognise that labour represents a mind-altering event that may affect their ability to make and communicate decisions and choices. For this reason, birth plans and other pre-labour directives can represent a form of Ulysses contract: an attempt to make binding choices before the sometimes overwhelming circumstances of labour. These choices need to be respected during labour, but despite the reduced decisional and communicative capacity of a labouring woman, her choices, when clear, should supersede decisions made before labour. ER -