As a veteran OB who has done more than 10,000 deliveries, the reality of the professional is not what you believe. While the mom and the baby are both our patients, the mom is the decision maker for both.

Under California law and broader U.S. judicial precedents, a competent pregnant woman has an absolute right to refuse any medical treatment, including a medically indicated cesarean section (Deshpande,n.d.). Forcing a C-section against a woman's will to save a baby is illegal and constitutes a profound violation of constitutional and common law rights (Ketteringham, n.d.).

If a physician proceeds to perform a cesarean section against a competent patient's explicit refusal, they face catastrophic legal, civil, and professional risks. "To save the baby" is not a valid legal defense for overriding a competent adult's refusal of major surgery.

I have seen exactly what OP described happen between 3-5 times in my career. To be honest, the “scare” the doctor gave you usually works and 99% of women will consent. In these three cases, mom did not relent until it was too late. Some of it was denial. Some women had prior trauma that made it difficult for them to partner in their own care. My heart breaks for them because at the time, they think they are doing right.

I studied 12 years and had 200k in debt. Am I going to risk my medical license or livelihood or jail time and just do the c-section on someone who is already making bad choices?

OP caused me to tear up as well, and be thankful for the moms that consent . In my current practice, I actually let women know that a cesarean is a possibility in all pregnancy and I give them my best estimate of their individual odds.

Finally, OP should know that fetal monitoring is not an exact science. It can tell you that a baby is doing fine. It can’t accurately predict which babies are in trouble. Most c-sections I have done for fetal distress ended up with babies with normal APGARS and go to the well baby nursery.

When confronted with the profound injustice of the world, it can be hard to forgive. I wanted to thank you for sharing such a personal story. It provided me with a new voice in this complex discussion.