RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Ulysses contract in obstetrics: a woman's choices before and during labour
JF Journal of Medical Ethics
JO J Med Ethics
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics
SP 27
OP 30
DO 10.1136/medethics-2012-100675
VO 39
IS 1
A1 Paul Burcher
YR 2013
UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/39/1/27.abstract
AB 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.