Patricia writes:
>    It is my understanding that in the final analysis the mother in the
> hospital is a comsumer buying a product ( hospital services) as such I
would
> think she can request ( demand) those services that she chooses and
reject
> those she does not want. She will be billed for services provided. If
your
> hospital does not choose to provide the services she requests she can go
> elsewhere.
>
This is interesting.  In the UK where we still have (in general) the
National Health Service ethos, the power balance can be quite different -
it can be harder standing up to Hospital Policies when you're there as a
grateful recipient, rather than straight consumer.  Of course, the jargon
nowadays is all about Choice and consumer/client Charters but, sadly
sometimes, if you feel one thing and your health professional insists on
another, and English isn't your first language or you're not particularly
articulate or well-informed and the next hospital is 20 miles away and you
don't have a car and the staff there will proabably say exactly the same,
anyway...  There's a huge responsibility on health professionals (rightly
so) not to - wittingly or unwittingly - abuse this power balance...
all good wishes
Hannah Hulme Hunter
(writing as a midwife this time, but also a (lay, volunteer) breastfeeding
counsellor)