Women’s Health Flashcards
1
Q
Be aware of your own attitudes and beliefs towards sexual and reproductive health problems, and present a balanced perspective on ethical dilemmas
A
Assisted reproduction - arguments FOR:
- People have procreative autonomy - their choice if they want children or not.
- Equity.
- Child welfare - pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.
- Allows same sex couples to conceive.
Assisted reproduction - arguments AGAINST:
- Involves destruction of human embryo.
- Harmful to those trying to conceive - emotional pressures, financial if private, feeling like something is wrong with them.
- Unnatural.
- Very expensive to NHS.
- Preimplantation genetic testing - unethical to create ‘designer babies’.
- Commercial IVF banned in UK.
Abortion - arguments FOR (pro-choice):
- Risk to mother compared to foetus? Do foetuses have the same moral status as person?
- Mother has autonomy over her body and choices.
- Banning will just lead to unsafe practice.
- Avoid emotional trauma of carrying child of rape.
- Can be just due to contraceptive failure - is that fair? Everyone makes mistakes.
Abortion - arguments AGAINST (pro-life):
- Abortion ends life of foetus → foetus has moral status of person → wrongful to end life.
- Non-maleficence - abortion is doing harm.
- Many couples are looking to adopt and abortion is depriving them of this option.
2
Q
Outline legal responsibilities and confidentiality issues relevant to sexual activity and sexual health and HIV care, including issues of consent, disclosure, providing care for minors, people with learning difficulties, suspected abuse and rape
A
SEXUAL ACTIVITY:
- Legal age to consent to sexual intercourse is 16.
- You should usually share information about sexual activity involving children under 13, who are considered in law to be unable to consent.
HIV CARE:
- HIV and STI information must be disclosed when there is a legal requirement to do so (e.g. risk to others, having unprotected sex without telling partner you have HIV).
- If a patient with a serious communicable disease refuses to consent to disclosure, a doctor must respect their wishes, unless failure to disclose will put others at risk of infection.
- Doctor has duty of care to both patient and partner.
- Doctor has duty of confidentiality.
3
Q
Demonstrate the ability to discuss with the patient abnormal cervical screening result
A
- hrHPV -ve —> routine recall.
- hrHPV +ve —> cytology for dyskaryosis.
- Inadequate sample —> repeat at 3 months.
- hrHPV +ve & abnormal cytology —> colposcopy.
- hrHPV +ve & normal cytology —> repeat at 12 months.
- CIN I mild dysplasia (abnormal cell growth), CIN II moderate dysplasia, CIN III severe dysplasia.
4
Q
Discuss the medical, social, legal and ethical issues around termination of pregnancy
A
ANTI-ABORTION:
- Abortion ends life of foetus - foetus has moral status of person - wrong to end life of something with this moral status - Abortion is morally wrong = justice.
- Abortion is doing harm = non-maleficence.
- Can lead to medical complications later in life both physical & psychological = non-maleficence.
- Many couples are looking to adopt & abortion is depriving them of this option = justice.
PRO-ABORTION:
- Even if foetus is human, what about risk to mother’s life? = non-maleficence.
- Foetus isn’t alive so doesn’t have the rights of a human - especially as most take place at a stage where foetus won’t survive = Mother has autonomy to decide what she does with her body.
- Will allow women in teenage years to achieve full potential = justice.
- Banning will just encourage the use of unsafe & harmful methods = beneficence.
- Women should be able to avoid the emotional harm of bearing a child by rape = non-malificence.
- May be due to a contraceptive failure/mistake and pregnancy may reduce quality of life for mother and she may not be able to provide good quality of life for future child = beneficence.
LEGAL:
- < 24 weeks.
- Risk to mother keeping baby > risk of termination/risk to foetus.
- 2 physicians must agree and sign.
