By Dale Rowse
It?s a familiar scene. There is a woman surrounded by doctors, while her husband circles the room with a video camera trying to capture every moment of their child?s advent into the world.
But some doctors feel the practice of videotaping gets in the way of giving quality care to the new baby and mother.
Jess Gomez, LDS Hospital spokesman, told KSL News that videotaping in the delivery room distracts some doctors and new mothers. Besides the distraction, Gomez said some doctors worry the tapes might be used against them in a malpractice lawsuit. LDS Hospital only allows videotaping if the doctor, staff and mother agree to it.
Dee Jones, an EMT in Salt Lake City, said videotapes of births could be beneficial for educational purposes, especially if there were complications. However, this brings up the issue of patient confidentiality.
?Birth is a very intimate experience,? Jones said. ?But doctors and patients could benefit from watching tapes of deliveries.?
Every hospital, and even every doctor, may have different policies for allowing videotaping of medical procedures.
Tim Villegas, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, said while many hospitals in the area allow taping after the delivery, most have a blanket policy prohibiting the videotaping of the actual procedure.
?I think in certain settings it should be allowable, but with anticipated complications it is reasonable for the physician to ask that no videotaping be done,? he said. ?I think it should be up to the physicians discretion. But many hospitals have a blanket policy that says no taping.?
Regardless of hospital policy, not everyone wants to record what goes on in the delivery room.
Mike Hohmann, a senior from Coleman, Texas studying Public Relations, said he and his wife Rachael decided they would not record their baby?s birth.
?Rachael is due in July, and we?ve talked about it,? Hohmann said. ?As far as taping the actual process of the birth, I think that it will be painful enough for my wife that we don?t need to capture that on tape. It?s a miracle of life, but it would be like taping a torture video.?
Hohmann said while he isn?t going to tape the birth, he is anxious to start a scrapbook for his soon-to-be daughter.
?We have a video camera and a digital camera, and we are going to take pictures and videos of our baby from day one,? Hohmann said. ?Regardless of what the doctor recommends we won?t tape the birth, but we are excited to tape everything from that moment on.?