2. COUNSELING AND INFORMED CONSENT
Updated June 2020 by Razel Remen, MD and Nina Pine, MSc
CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Following completion of this chapter, you should be able to:
- Give patients pregnancy test results in a non-judgmental manner
- Describe the full range of pregnancy options
- Support patients to choose options consistent with their needs, values, and preferences
- Address issues related to indecision, as needed, and help ensure that patients’ decisions are informed, voluntary, and free of coercion
- Provide information to compare medication and aspiration abortion
- Use language that is mindful, sensitive and unassuming – which supports patients through the reaffirmation of their choices during counseling and/or procedures
RESOURCES:
- Perrucci, A. “Your Patient Has the Answer” (https://providers.bedsider.org/articles/your-patient-has-the-answer)
- Perrucci A. Decision Assessment and Counseling in Abortion Care: Philosophy and Practice. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 2012.
- The Doula Project. DIY Doula: Self-Care for Before, During, and After your Abortion.
- Reproductive Health Access Project. Sam’s Medication Abortion
- Options Counseling Resources:
- Paul et al (eds). Management of Unintended and Abnormal Pregnancy: Comprehensive Abortion Care (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009)
- Chapter 5: Informed Consent, Counseling, and Patient Preparation
- Chapter 16: Answering Questions About Long-Term Outcomes