Pregnant patients' rights or Pregnant women's rights refers to the choices and legal

rights Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

available to a woman experiencing

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to ...

. Specifically those under

medical care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is deliver ...

within a medical establishment or those under the care of a

medical professional A health professional, healthcare professional (HCP), or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated as HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a Nursing, nur ...

regardless of location ( under care of paramedics at home, family doctor via phone, etc. ). There are many debates that arise from pregnancy rights, ranging from whether or not fertility treatments are 'right' or whether using surrogate mothers is wrong. It comes down to the mother's right. As a woman, there are more challenges than just the fundamentals of the decisions surrounding their pregnancy.

Maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave ...

, parental leave and the time allotted for these leaves varies from company to company. The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) gathered in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

in September 1994 to discuss and "formulate a consensus position on population and development for the next 20 years". One of the other goals was to make

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

medical services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is deliver ...

available to women while they are pregnant, and when the time comes, have delivery options available. A main concern has always been

postnatal The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to last for six to eight weeks. There are three distinct phases of the postnatal period; the acute phase, lasting for six to twelve hours after birth; the ...

care; people think that the hardest part is the

birth Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

of the child but there are so many additional concerns once the child is born and brought into this world. Complications both prior to pregnancy, during delivery, and after delivery are a potential concern in all births, the ICPD talked about enhancing the available support for all women. Pregnancy rights throughout the world are not going to be the same in every single place but the ICPD is aiming to eliminate discrimination during pregnancy and make all

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

patients' rights available to everyone.

Nurses Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

and

patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by Health professional, healthcare professionals. The patient is most often Disease, ill or Major trauma, injured and in need of therapy, treatment by a physician, nurse, op ...

s sometimes run into troubles because their opinions will often vary in what they think should be done in terms of termination or pre- and postnatal care. As Kane, 2009 states "The NMC code of professional conduct states that: ‘you must make the care of people your first concern’." Enforcing that the nurses opinions really should be kept to themselves so as to not influence the decision of the patients.

Rights of pregnant women

The rights of pregnant women are defined by a set of recognized rights and protections specified by national laws and international regulations. Here are some of the rights of pregnant women : # Right to Access Healthcare: Pregnant women have the right to access necessary healthcare during their pregnancy. This includes regular check-ups and counseling on nutrition and fetal health. # Right to Privacy and Confidentiality: The medical information of pregnant women should be treated with confidentiality and privacy, ensuring its security from any leaks. # Maternity Leave Rights: Pregnant women have the right to maternity leave with pay, allowing them to rest and care for their infants. #

Non-Discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sexu ...

: Pregnant women should not face discrimination based on their physical condition, whether in the workplace or in daily life. # Protection from Harmful Work: Pregnant women must be protected from tasks that could be harmful to their health and the health of the fetus. # Breastfeeding Leave Rights: Working women have the right to breastfeeding leave to care for their infants. # Right to Choose: Pregnant women have the right to make decisions regarding their pregnancy, including the choice to continue or terminate it. It's important to consider that the respect and application of these rights can vary from one situation to another and may depend on social and legal contexts. These rights encompass the protection of pregnancy and maternity and the promotion of women's and fetal health.

By country

Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

pregnant women have the same rights as any other member of society. However, they do have some extra rights when it comes to their rights in the

workforce In macroeconomics, the workforce or labour force is the sum of people either working (i.e., the employed) or looking for work (i.e., the unemployed): \text = \text + \text Those neither working in the marketplace nor looking for work are out ...

Pregnant women's rights in the workforce

Under the

Fair Work Act 2009 The ''Fair Work Act 2009'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, passed by the Rudd government to reform the industrial relations system of Australia. Replacing the Howard government's WorkChoices legislation, the Act established ...

section pregnant women are still entitled to the same amount of

sick leave Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because ...

as any other individual as being pregnant does not classify as an illness. A Pregnant woman however is able to take unpaid leave for "special maternity leave", this is maternity leave that she can take if she has a pregnancy related illness or the pregnancy ends any time after the first trimester due to a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

, a

stillbirth Stillbirth is typically defined as fetus, fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without vital signs, signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt (emotio ...

or a termination. Safe jobs is when the women moves to a safer job while being because her original job is dangerous to her and the baby. She will need to provide evidence that she can still work but unable to perform the original tasks and how long she shouldn't work in her job for. An example for proving these would be with a medical certificate. In the circumstances where there is no safer jobs to offer the women can take no safe jobs leave. The employee takes paid leave if she is entitled to unpaid parental leave and unpaid leave if she is not. Discrimination in the workforce against pregnant women is illegal. This means that she can not be fired, lose hours, demoted and treated differently because of her pregnancy.

Terminating the pregnancy

In Australia the laws on termination change between each state and territory. In

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, termination is considered lawful up until 20 weeks of pregnancy. A termination after 20 weeks can only be undertaken if there is two medical practitioners from a panel of six that agree that the women or the fetus has or will have a serious medical condition if the pregnancy continued.

Immunisation

During pregnancy, women have the right to seek getting immunised with the influenza

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

("Flu Shot") and the adult dTpa vaccine (

pertussis Whooping cough ( or ), also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, bu ...

). Both of these vaccines are recommended; however, it is up to the individual whether or not to go ahead with the vaccinations.

Islam and abortion rights

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

, abortion is generally considered forbidden (

haram ''Haram'' (; ) is an Arabic term meaning 'taboo'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowledge; or, in direct cont ...

) unless there is a threat to the life of the mother. However, there is a difference of opinion among religious scholars regarding the circumstances under which abortion may be considered permissible. Some scholars view abortion as permissible if there is a threat to the mother's health, if the pregnancy is a result of rape, or if it is determined that the fetus is suffering from severe abnormalities. Nevertheless, there is a general consensus among scholars that abortion for non-essential, material, or social reasons is not permissible.

Fatwas A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist (''faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

and legal rulings concerning abortion are a sensitive issue and depend on individual and surrounding circumstances. Some countries allow abortion under certain circumstances under civil and medical laws regulated by the state.

Immunisation of pregnant women and ethics

Immunising pregnant women presents specific

ethical Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...

considerations due to the need to protect both the health of the mother and that of the fetus. '' Risk and Benefit Assessment:'' Before administering

vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. A vaccine typically contains an ag ...

to a pregnant woman, it is crucial to carefully assess the potential risks to both the mother and the fetus in relation to the benefits of

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

. The decision should be based on strong scientific evidence and thorough ethical evaluation. ''

Informed Consent Informed consent is an applied ethics principle that a person must have sufficient information and understanding before making decisions about accepting risk. Pertinent information may include risks and benefits of treatments, alternative treatme ...

:'' Obtaining informed consent from the pregnant woman before proceeding with immunisation is imperative. This involves providing clear information about potential benefits, possible risks, and available alternatives, so she can make an informed decision. ''

Safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

and

Efficacy Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as '' effectiveness'', and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a distinction is now often made betwee ...

:'' Vaccines administered to pregnant women should be pre-tested for safety and efficacy during pregnancy. It is essential to have robust scientific data to ensure that the benefits for the mother and the fetus outweigh any potential risks. ''Communication and Transparency:'' Clear and transparent communication about the benefits, risks, and uncertainties associated with immunisation during pregnancy is essential to build trust and facilitate informed decision-making. Information should be provided in an understandable and culturally sensitive manner. ''Management of

Adverse Effects An adverse effect is an undesired harmful effect resulting from a medication or other intervention, such as surgery. An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. The term complic ...

:'' Having appropriate protocols for monitoring potential adverse effects of vaccines administered to pregnant women is important. Establishing mechanisms for monitoring and providing adequate care is essential to ensure the safety and well-being of pregnant women and their fetuses. Immunising pregnant women, therefore, requires a thorough ethical assessment that considers safety, efficacy, transparent communication, and informed consent. It is crucial to adopt a balanced approach that ensures the protection of maternal health while minimising risks to the fetus.

References

5. Federal Register of Legislation. (2009). ''Fair Work act. R''etrieved from https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00332 * Federal Register of Legislation. (2003). ''Sex Discrimination Amendment (pregnancy and work) act.'' Retrieved from https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2004A01186 * Parliament of Australia.(1998). ''Abortion law in Australia''. Retrieved from http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp9899/99rp01 * Australian Government Department of Health. (2015) ''Immunise Australia Program.'' Retrieved from http://www.immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/pregnant-women {{Reproductive health Maternity in Australia Health law Women's rights Midwifery