FAILED HOME BIRTH, NOW IN THE ED
You are at the hospital, caring for your patients in labor, when a 32-year-old G3P2 with two prior cesarean section deliveries is brought to the emergency department in labor after a failed home birth.
“Will you assume care for this woman?” the nursing administrator asks you. Quickly! What would you do?
7% Refuse to accept responsibility for a high-risk patient whom you’ve never seen
29% Assume her care and recommend cesarean section
46% Assume her care and recommend cesarean section—plus, later, report the responsible midwife to the department of public health and her credentialing organization
18% Agree to assume her care as long as the hospital’s attorney and risk management team indemnify you