Friday, September 30, 2011

Fair Play FIGO

I'll be honest, I am not the biggest fan of FIGO's 1998 statement on the ethics of cesarean birth with no medical indication (a subject I will return to later).

However, just recently, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics handled a situation (regarding a news story on its website) so professionally and courteously that I felt compelled to write about it.

On September 2, 2011, I noticed that the story "Caesarean section 'doubles blood clot risk'", on FIGO's website (which related to this ACOG press release) contained inaccuracies.

I contacted the press office, and explained, providing reasons, that the reference to maternal request cesareans in the opening paragraph may be misleading, and that the U.S. cesarean rate quoted was incorrect.

Benefit of the doubt

The first thing that FIGO did was to give me the benefit of the doubt and removed the story while it investigated my concerns.

This in itself was commendable.

And then, on September 6, I received an apology via email, with an explanation about how some of the figures and information were confused, and an assurance that it would not happen again.

Simple, Fair and Effective

I can't stress enough how impressed I was with the attitude of FIGO's staff.

I spend a great deal of my time reading articles, research papers and opinions on cesarean birth, and understandably, I am frustrated when I see statements or comments about maternal request cesareans that are either untrue or unfair.

To have an issue dealt with so quickly and reasonably was a breath of fresh air.

Thank you FIGO.

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