Patient Quotes on the Importance of Communication with the Care Team
“…The outcomes for my child would be completely different if I wasn't so informed and so on it with things like that. So I think it's super important to give that support and try to figure out the best way to do it and not let someone kind of feel like they don't belong or they shouldn't ask these questions or, you know, they're not important enough, and because they're going through something so difficult with such a high-risk pregnancy that they're responsible, they're blamed, the blame game goes, you know, around and it just, it can, it could send you into a spiral. It really can. It can send you in to spiral and it can make your pregnancy such a terrible experience if you allow it. So that's why I think having these resources and having these doctors with the right attitude because any other situation it might be fine, but pregnancy is such a vulnerable time and without the proper people around you, it could be really terrible.”
— birthing person describing how provider communication can affect patient feelings
“Yeah. So they were, you know…, ‘This is what the process is going to look like. This is what the room's going to look like.’ They'd let me know, they're like, ‘Oh, there's gonna be like, 20 people.’ And then they counted, they're like, ‘No, there's like, 18 to 20 people in the room.’ Because each girl had their own team. So that was eight people right there. The doctors, the nurses. Anesthesia is on call in case they have to pivot to a C-section. So like, by the time you added it all up, it was 18 to 20 people. That was helpful to know because I think if I didn't know that, I would have automatically, like, panicked and been like, ‘What is wrong?’ Right? Like, but knowing that, it was like, ‘No, this is the natural process. This is how we do things. So all of these people have a purpose and they're in the room for a reason.’”
— birthing person explaining what they have liked about their care team’s communication
“Um, I think just some validation [laughs]. Like, 'Yes, you may be having a miscarriage.' Or you know, just kind of like, put me in touch with some resources or something. I was obviously, you know, very distraught and upset, but I ended up being fine. I, you know, didn't have any depressive symptoms or anything like that afterwards. But it very well could have spiraled into something else for, you know, for myself, for any other person. So just the lack of check-in afterwards”
— birthing person expressing what they wished they were told while they were experiencing pregnancy loss
“So I did appreciate that he kind of gave that option of what I was most comfortable with and he didn't really push in one direction or another, um, but was able to kind of give solid information as to why he didn't think it was completely necessary.”
— birthing person describing what they appreciated about their provider’s communication style
“So I think just being a little more understanding and supportive and at the end of the day, that's what they're there for. So, like, don't say call with questions if you're just going to make people feel like they're nuts, especially in such a sensitive time for some others.”
— birthing person describing what *not* to do when communicating with patients
Trauma-informed Communication – It’s not just WHAT you say, but HOW you say it
“If I feel more comfortable with my providers, I'm more likely to alert them to issues that are going on. With the things that are going on, we're more likely to solve them and have a smoother pregnancy. Like this doctor, I was able to talk to her, and we were able to smooth out my medications. I'm not feeling as nauseous anymore; like, my blood pressure is fine, and my sugars are great, you know? So it was like, having a smooth, um, relationship with these doctors is key. It really is because if I didn't, you know, have a great relationship with the nutritionist, or if I didn't, or if I wasn't able to figure out my medications, or if I didn't feel comfortable talking to them about it, I would just, I would, my blood pressure would probably all over the place, you know, I probably would be on insulin already.”
— birthing person expressing the importance of a trusting relationship
Establishing trust is central to any of this work. Trust can be established by simply making it clear you see this person as a human being and being a real human in the room.
[More content coming soon]
Responding to Trauma Disclosure
[Coming soon]
Informed consent
“And she's like, ‘Well, you can cross it out and initial and date it.’ I'm like, okay, but there really wasn't anywhere on that form to say no unless I specifically said, ‘How do I say no?’. And then in that meeting, she could have been like, ‘Okay, so the next meeting, the next thing we're about to do in the exam room is a pap smear. Do you consent to having—’ you know, and then we could have had that whole consent conversation. But like you said, there is no real, standard way. I mean, sometimes, they're like, ‘Oh, do you mind if I have someone in here to type for me?’ and, you know, that kind of consent. But there's really no way to, unless you're a strong-willed person like me, be like, ‘No, I don't want this. How do I cross this off? I'm not going to allow students in the room. I'm not going to allow, you know, this, that, and the third. I'm not going to allow all these things. I'm not going to allow pictures. I'm not going to allow dah, dah, dah, dah’" You might just be like, well, there's nowhere to cross it out. I guess I have to say yes.”
— birthing person commenting on the ability (or lack thereof) to decline consent
“You know, I... I think my... my office does informed consent really, really, well. Where they, you know, even at my appointment yesterday, before I even got undressed, they told me, you know, exactly why I was undressing, exactly what was going to happen. You know, they're going... they're going to press on my breasts and make sure that the tissue is looking good. They're going to do an internal pelvic exam, and it's going to take about this much time. You know, they gave me full information before doing anything, so I knew exactly what to expect and, you know, what's comfortable.”
— birthing person describing an example of a well-done consent process for exams
How to encourage questions and participation from patients
[Coming soon]