PETALING JAYA, June 3 — Doctors have been told to wake up to the fact that home birthing is here to stay.
Hypno-birthing educator Nadine Ghows said the phenomena of doctors criticising mothers who advocate home birth had been going on for some time on social media.
She said the language used by the doctors tended to be patronising and condescending, oreflecting a lack of training on basic etiquette.
“Some doctors still see patients as someone to control ... this is partly due to the ‘white coat’ syndrome,” she said.
She said the attitude of some doctors towards patients was unhealthy and they lacked an understanding of their role in the patient-doctor relationship.
She was commenting on the case of a house officer who had posted confidential information on a patient on Facebook which in turn elicited rude and crude remarks from a host of others including doctors.
Nadine, in decrying the actions of the doctors, said basic training on etiquette had to be offered to young doctors especially on the strict rule that they could not share any information on a patient with the public.
She said a medical lecturer from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) had started a basic etiquette course for young doctors last year.
“Maybe we will not see the results soon now. I hope this course will play a role in ensuring that humanity and respect are brought back to medical care,” she said.
Researcher and engineer Nur Firdaus A. Rahim, 31, said every patient had the right to their opinion on matters involving medical procedures and their requests had to be respected by doctors.
“They should not belittle or insult parents who holds their own opinions on such matters," she added.
“I am affected by their actions. I had initially planned to give birth at a government hospital but will now chose a private hospital that is more natural-birth friendly.”
Flight attendant Zamzilah Fairuz Kamarul Zaman, 30, said she did not mind doctors sharing their experience “but sharing patients’ records goes beyond the limit.’’
