REQUESTED CAESAREAN FOR NON-MEDICAL REASONS DUE TO POST-PARTUM STERILIZATION FOR FREE

Abstract

Should a gynecologist respectively an obstetrician operate on a healthy woman as part of a Caesarean with a
supposedly healthy child in order to accommodate her
request for sterilization – a procedure that can easily
be performed at a future date or that can alternatively
be replaced by other forms of contraceptives? Up to
what extent is such action ethical? Why do women
desire sterilization in this context? Which role do factors related to the German health care system and its
economic bias play in the women’s decision making
process? Processes that do not only have repercussions
in but reach beyond Germany. This article will shed
light on the changing attitudes towards modes of delivery and hence developments such as the concomitant sterilization in the context of Caesareans as well
as on corresponding principle-oriented approaches in
medical ethics.