Pregnant woman "asked for all-white doctors" in the delivery room
Categories: Babies, Pregnancy & birth, Latest news
A woman who was about to give birth allegedly asked for all-white medical staff to be in the delivery room.
The mother, who has not been named, had her request refused by Milton Keynes Hospital.
Hospital staff have complained to the Equality and Human Rights Commission about the incident and the hospital says it has begun a full investigation.
The woman had a Caesarean section at the hospital.
What kind of person starts kicking off about the race of her doctors when she's about to have a Caesarean section?
A hospital spokesman told the BBC: "A specific request was made, but due to patient confidentiality, we cannot go into detail.
"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."
There were medical complications during the birth but mother and baby had now gone home "safe, well and happy", according to the spokesman.
Navrita Atwal, of Milton Keynes Equality Council, told the BBC she was surprised by the circumstances of the case.
"What if there had not been a white doctor available? What would have happened then?," she said.
"I think the hospital staff should go through relevant training about how to think on their feet when this situation arises."
Personally I think the woman should have been told she could give birth in the car park if she didn't like the doctors available.
And I think they should have notified social services. You've got to feel sorry for a child growing up with that kind of mother. What do you think?
Source: BBC
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
PippaD 10-29-2009 @ 7:36AM
I read about this early this morning as it is my local hospital and both my Children and my Sisters Children were born there.
I don't agree with what she wanted, but I do understand that she was feeling vunerable and wanted something to make her feel more comfortable and her belief was that an all white medical staff would bring that to her.
I wonder if the reaction would of been the same had she asked for an all female team.
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suze 10-29-2009 @ 2:42PM
"What kind of person starts kicking off about the race of her doctors when she's about to have a Caesarean section?"
The question is what kind of person kicks off about the race of her doctors FULL STOP?????
There is NO excuse. This is pure racism and to condone it in anyway is unacceptable. Why should the colour of your doctor's skin be a contributory factor in making you feel more comfortable.
A truly repulsive story.
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Liz Rayner 10-30-2009 @ 8:42AM
I thought the comment comparing the request for an all female team and an all white team to be interesting. This can be accommodated widely in the NHS particularly in GP surgeries where female GPs are often available and/or chaperones can sit in on appointments. I would have thought surgery is quite another case. Perhaps this woman did not realise she is racist and it all took her by surprise in the heat of the moment but at least next time she can check in to a private hospital where the staff can possibly be vetted beforehand. I wonder how she would feel lying in the road following a RTA and the attending paramedics were all non white. I am bewildered by this story!
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Patrick 11-08-2009 @ 5:09PM
This is garden variety racism. Appalling, to be sure, but hardly newsworthy. What I found most disturbing in this article was the author's suggestion that they mother ought to be referred to social services for her indiscretion. Of course one ought to feel sorry for a child growing up with a person like that, but to equate personal offense with legal action hints at some very powerful fallacious assumptions on the part of the author. Please note, Ms. Cornish, that I mean this in no way as an indictment of your character. You are, to a degree, a product of your society, and as a middle-class Briton may be subject to certain prejudices about the sovereignty of the state vs the sovereignty of the individual. Please consider, if only for a moment, the long-term consequences of widespread acceptance of a "Nanny-state" mentality. As an island people, you have an historical obligation to hold your government to an exceptionally high standard, if for no other reason than you may very well have nowhere to go if someday you should find the laws of the land to be reprehensible. I wish you the best.
-A Transatlantic Prick of Conscience
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Annette 12-27-2009 @ 8:56PM
I think the mother's request was fine, and within her rights. She has every right to expect a certain level of care, and in many cases, non-whites just can't cut it.
I for one would not want a non-white to deliver my child, and none ever did deliver any of my children.
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ANTON 11-08-2009 @ 8:19PM
If Affirmative Action means that sub-par non-white medical students are being moved up the ranks because of their race, then she is quite astute in realizing non-white doctors will be less skilled on average. End Affirmative Action and these stories will stop.
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Ulfur Engil 11-08-2009 @ 8:28PM
Her request was perfectly reasonable. If this were a Jewish woman who requested a Jewish staff, then she would have been accommodated immediately.
What bothers me more is that a British woman must be forced to having non-Europeans handle her newborn, simply out of the sake that the GPs must not be 'offended.'
Jenny Cornish says that we've got to feel sorry for the child growing up with 'that kind of mother.'...Nonsense. I feel for the child and mother having to contend with the multicultural madness that infects the Nation.
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John F. S. 11-08-2009 @ 10:11PM
"What kind of person starts kicking off about the race of her doctors when she's about to have a Caesarean section?"
The kind who is hoping that neither she nor her child die or otherwise suffer from incompetence or abuse. Why should we be subjected to alien medical staff? It's disgusting that these people are allowed entry into our lands to begin with. White doctors for White people, Indian doctors can practice in India, Black doctors can practice in Africa. KEEP AMERICA WHITE!
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Fenria 11-10-2009 @ 10:40AM
And if it had been an Asian or Arab woman asking for a doctor of her own ethnicity, perhaps due to potential religious reasons, would any of us be here right now, reading or speaking about it?..........
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RomanSPQR 11-09-2009 @ 5:27PM
To the haters and bigots who condemn this woman's request for white medical personnel.
Your vile comments would never have seen the light of day had this woman been Somali, Asian or whatever flavor you can think of, and she requested medical staff that looked like herself.
You mouth breathing saints of fairness would have shrugged and said good for her.
The only reason she is condemned is because she's white. Anti-racist is code for anti-white.
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Angela 11-14-2009 @ 2:54AM
If one airline company had an higher than usual number of airline disasters than another company, which airline would you fly with? A c-section is a relatively major operation with a risk of complications for mother and/or baby. I wonder if any of the people here claiming racism would risk their own health and/or life in a situation like this.
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Tab 11-14-2009 @ 6:39PM
When i gave birth to my 2nd child, i had a foreign doctor and although it sounds horrible - i just could not understand a word he was saying, and during labour you NEED to know whats going on and exactly what he needs you to do! I am not racist - but do think that you need to be able to understand your medical team clearly, especially at times like these. If i'd made a comment at the time, or asked for another doctor - would that have been classed as being racist too?
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