Pregnant woman 'made race demand'

A Buckinghamshire hospital has begun an investigation after a woman about to give birth allegedly objected to non-white staff being in the delivery room.

The unnamed white woman, who had a Caesarean section, had the request refused by Milton Keynes Hospital.

Hospital staff have complained to the Equality and Human Rights Commission about the way the situation was handled earlier this month.

The hospital said it had begun a "full investigation".

"A specific request was made, but due to patient confidentiality, we cannot go into detail," a hospital spokeswoman said.

'Absolutely surprised'

"At present we can say that the baby was not delivered by an all-white team of staff and the mother and baby were not cared for by an all-white team.

"We did not change medical rotas."

She added that there were medical complications during the birth earlier this month, but that mother and baby had now returned home "safe, well and happy".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/beds/bucks/herts/8330102.stm

I was at a major high end hospital's clinic (group practice, not charity by a long shot) and the nurselike person instructed me to put on a paper gown and wait for "the doctor". Well thankfully, I don't obey nurselike personnel who tell me to get naked in public, because the door flew open and the entire Mickey Mouse Club came in the room, led by Roy. Roy wanted me naked on the table with my hind end in the air for his inspection, which I said I would do as soon as the entourage had left the room.

I wasn't about to bear my "soul" in front of people my own age whom I might well run into in a bar later that night.

those nurselike thingamabobs, I pretend to ignore them (after all, they are not actual nurses and thus, don't deserve respect for, oh - you know - actually doing their job ... anyhoooo) but, being an uber intelligent and superior human being, I totally understand the stripping-naked-paper-gown protocol. Certainly, I will, at some time, whether for the nurselike thingamajig or for the not unlike a real doctorpesonlike, I will have to put on the paper gown. Thus, I use my big giant not-nurselike brain, and lock the fucking door whilst I strip.

And I agree, some people's soul are in their asshole.

1- "nurselike person" - in a hospital setting, there are many people who are dressed like nurses who are not nurses. Sometimes the person escorting you to an exam room is a nurse, and sometimes not.

2- My nudity is on a need to know basis, and I will decide who gets to see and how much he gets to see. Thank you.

BTW- this is probably a huge part of the resistance to Single Payer. Americans probably want to retain their consumer authority in the face of the arrogant challenge to it which already happens by medical service workers. Doctors and other medical service workers sometimes appear to forget who the customer is and come to imagine that they are performing a noble gift or charitable act.

There's very little about the process of medical care that enables the patient to act as a customer in any conventional sense of the word.

That's what is happening when a doctor LIES to you and tells you that if you leave the hospital AMA your insurance won't pay the bill.

I agree with you, and that's yet another reason why the patient isn't a "customer" in any conventional sense. The patient is in no position to make the same kind of free, informed choices that are available to customers in other circumstances.

I showed him a DU thread where someone was complaining that a paraplegic man posted a want ad for an assistant to help him bathe on Craigslist and specifically requested a college-age female. My surgeon friend said that he did have a right to be comfortable; I'm not sure that that may apply here as well under commonly accepted U.S. medical ethics, however we may disagree with the criteria given by the patient, but it might. After all, the paraplegic was discriminating in a way that would be illegal in other settings.

I would say this: it would be dumb as fuck for anybody to admit that they are racist in an operating room.

was for female nursing staff in a nursing home. Older ladies do not want to be bathed by strange men.

on edit: Some older ladies would be fine with that.

In all seriousness, I thought there was a similar case about Hooters having the right to hire waitstaff of a certain physique/appearance.

Don't know if that went to the SC or not, though.

But I can't be sure without looking it up...which I am not doing right now.

Cheers.

lets be honest you go there for the babes not the wings...

The whole place seemed kind of sad and desperate. I just sort of felt bad for all the waitresses.

there in recent years, has been polish people..

The pub which was local to my work is now a "Polish pub." They still make pizza.

At least they try to make pizza.

I believe that the mother should have the next-to-final say about who is in her room ...

just below the doctor who will save her baby's and her lives ...

she should stfu. Those non whites in the room paid taxes to help pay for her care.

You're saying that because this woman is on the NHS that she has no say who is in her room when she gives birth. Now, you and I might be offended by her preference, or think that stating it outloud amongst people who are going to be taking care of you one way or another isn't wise, but to jump from that to "Hey, she's on public health, who gives a fuck what she thinks?" is the leap which goes into the camp which opposes universal care.

We have been promising, or implying, that Single Payer or other universal care schemes will NOT take away your choices as a patient. We need to respect that there are people whose choices won't make sense to us.

as i stated downthread we had no males in the delivery room or OR for any of my kids births, to an outsider looking in it may seem wierd but we had reasons for it... patients should be able to choose whether its for asshole reasons or legitimate...

Yet another horror story from the world of socialized medicine. You may be forced to accept health care from people of the wrong race! :eyes:

The hospital did not comply with her racist "request".
What's to investigate? the patient?
surprise surprise..racists have babies too :(
There was nothing the hospital could have done differently.

they delivered her baby safely...they did not exclude non-white staffers
they exposed her as a racist

They have nothing to investigate

I don't give a rat's ass how the staff feels about what this woman said. The way I read it, some staff members are pissed because they were asked to leave the room? IS that right? If the patient points to one staff member for no apparent reason and says, "Get him out of here." then if it's possible to do that then the staff should comply. A hospital situation is not one for raising social consciousness or deciding whether the patient has a good reason for his demand. The staff response should be based on ability to comply, only.

They have every right to be pissed at the idiotic lady who resisted their being there, but the hospital cannot control what patients say...

This woman is on a table with her legs in the air. I think, that if it's not too much of an inconvenience then the hospital staff should comply with her wishes. We really have no idea of what was going on in this woman's head, and it's really not for us to decide.

The people that a hospital hires are presumed to be necessary, and well trained to do their jobs. They were not just wandering staffers who decided to check out the white lady in labor..

Should a hospital have to schedule their workers hours, and job assignments for the day, only after polling patients to see which ones are okay with the non-white staffers?

I don't care what was in her thoughts.. they are her own thoughts, and she has a right to be racist..but should she have the right to tell the hospital whom to schedule, and where & when to schedule their non-white workers?

They were there doing the job they were paid to do, and nothing more.
This is right up there with the people who did not want "black-blood", even if that transfusion happened to save their lives..

Her "issue" was racism...not necessarily sexism..

Perhaps she'll need to find a new hospital for her next baby

"White Women's Hospital, No Males/No non-whites allowed"
or she can join the 21st century ..
or have her next one at home
she's got choices

done here:hi:

it was accepted by the hospital no questions asked....

(he delivered babies), and he had plenty of stories about patients requesting ANYone but him (black, male)...

my wifes obgyn and the hospital were very understanding and catered to our request no problem. People have all sorts of wierd requests from the outside looking in when it comes to births,,,

waited outside for the delivery....

i don't have a problem with consideration towards the mother's comfort if special requests are made well in advance and the hospital is able to accommodate. but at the last minute, that's another story.

it was quite a rush to get it done, but both office and the hospital were exceptional and complied with our wishes with no problems, it was kinda funny as i sat outside with the male OR nurse waiting.....

Heard MANY TIMES too often...

"I don't want a NURSE! I need a doctor!!!"

Sis: I am your doctor. My name is...

"Then I want the HEAD doctor."

Sis: I am the head doctor. My name is...

"I want the HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT or you're gonna hear from my congressman."

Sis: Mr/Ms/Mrs/Miss___, My name is ___. I am the head of this department and here to serve you.

Ask me how quickly that gets old and moldy, spewing poisonous spores... ;-)

:cry:

Too bad they sent the baby home with her.

If she needed a blood transfusion during the complications she experienced I wonder if she wouldn't turned it down since a black man pioneered that procedure? Something tells me she has no problem benefiting because of non-white people while looking down on them.

I remember the retirement home where my grandmother stayed--an elderly female resident got very irate when a young black man who had just been hired came in her room and started to disrobe her in order to giver her a sponge bath. She caused quite a commotion.

well im going home but it will be interesting on monday to see the replies to this one,

...the woman's demands weren't met. They're saying no changes were made to the staffing. What's the big deal? She made a stupid request?