Autonomy, privacy and informed consent 2: postnatal perspective.

The nursing and healthcare ethics literature over the past 10 years has focused on issues of patient autonomy and patient rights. Despite the growing volume of literature exploring such topics, there is little empirical work investigating what is actually happening in clinical nursing or midwifery practice in relation to patient autonomy, privacy or informed consent, from the perspective of either patients or staff. This four-part series reports the results of a Scottish study that formed part of a multisite comparative research project funded by the European Commission, investigating issues of patient autonomy, privacy and informed consent. This article, the second of four, explores the issues of autonomy, privacy and informed consent in maternity care. The research questions asked were: (1) What is the perception of mothers' autonomy, privacy and informed consent in Scottish NHS hospitals, from the point of view of both mothers and midwives?; (2) Are there differences in the perceptions of mothers and m...