Informed consent: Informed surgical consent is needed for a planned surgical procedure in a non-emergent situation. It is expected that a surgeon will discuss directly with the patient the risks, benefits, complications and alternatives to the specific planned surgical procedure. The risks are the common and less common ones that can occur. The patient is expected to ask questions as needed to understand the issues and then the surgeon and patient sign a surgical consent that outlines these risks and the procedures. Prior to performing a cesarean section, the patient needs to undergo informed consent. The informed consent for a cesarean section includes risks to mom and baby, and they all need to be discussed. For mom, the risks include bleeding, infection, possible hysterectomy, poor healing, and the potential injury to the adjacent organs like the bladder and the bowels. The risk of adjacent organ and bladder injury are greater if this is not the patient’s first cesarean section.
Informed consent medical expert witness specialties include OB/GYN and maternal-fetal medicine.