Nicola was videofilmed during a home visit without being asked or informed
beforehand, and asks for input from others.  I don't know what the rules are
in Ireland, nor whether the rules are different in institutions vs giving
home care.  Here, no employee of the health services can be compelled to be
videofilmed against their will while in a work situation, which means if
parents want to do any filming during labor, they have to ask and they have
to take the staff's wishes into account.  We don't have the culture of
filming and photographing every microscopic detail and then showing the
video, complete with episiotomy repair, to anyone who chances to drop by in
the first 6 months or so after the birth.  People usually want footage of
their baby getting weighed and measured and may ask the midwife to smile and
wave for posterity.  The fact that the recording could be evidence of what
transpired, has largely been absent from the discourse about it.
That said, I can see how videofilming an LC appointment could be immensely
helpful for the mother afterwards, but only if the filming were done at
pretty close range, showing the details of latching on, good positioning,
and effective feeding.  The situation Nicola describes doesn't sound as if
it were anything but collecting memories.  Nicola, since you do document
your care plus give the mother a written record of the plan, this should be
no more than an awkward episode in which one hopes one had a well-modulated
voice and no bits of spinach or black olives stuck in one's teeth.  Still, I
can understand that feeling of having been tricked somehow, almost violated,
actually. 
One way to handle this would be to make a valiant attempt at making light of
the situation (Oh, if I'd only known, I'd have had my hair done and worn my
Versace uniform!) while letting the mother know that it is proper etiquette
to ask before starting to film.  I'd probably ask if there was a particular
reason they were filming it too, and if it was for the purpose of
remembering what happened, I would want to help set up the camera so that it
would pick up something meaningful.  If it was just for the video library of
My Child's Entire Life History I might actually decline to be filmed for the
entire consult simply because it cramps my speaking style.  I get so
preoccupied with my Norwegian pronunciation that I forget what I am trying
to say.  They might get a smashing video but a less than optimal
consultation.
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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