Your Legal Rights in the Birth Room with Attorney Hermine Hayes-Klein
Can you legally say no to an induction? A cesarean? A vaginal exam? A hospital policy? And what happens if you do?
These are the questions so many pregnant mamas are Googling and today I have the perfect person to answer them.
Hermine Hayes-Klein is an attorney who has spent 25 years specializing in women's rights in pregnancy and childbirth. She has lived in the Netherlands where birth looks completely different.
She has represented women whose rights were violated in the birth room, and she has won.
What she shares in this episode is the kind of information may change how you feel about finding your voice in your prenatal appointments and the birth room.
Here's What You'll Learn in This Episode:
02:01 – Meet Hermine. Attorney, childbirth rights expert, and the woman who moved to the Netherlands pregnant and came home having completely rethought the way America does birth (p.s. she's not the first...).
08:45 – The cases that drove Hermine into this work and why she started taking them when nobody else would.
18:32 – What your legal rights actually are in the birth room and why signing a general consent when you walk into the hospital does not mean you have consented to everything that follows. The law of informed consent explained in a way that actually makes sense. 💪
27:15 – The birth plan convo and why Hermine recommends calling it your informed consent birth plan instead. How to use it as a communication tool that sets the tone from the very beginning of your birth...I think you'll love this part!
34:18 – Can you say no to hospital policies? Plus what to do if they threaten to call CPS. Yes, it can be a real thing, and she broke down what you need to know.
41:22 – What to actually put in your hospital bag from a legal standpoint the specific ACOG documents Hermine recommends having printed, highlighted, and ready to go no matter what comes up during your labor.
48:33 – The five sets of risks every pregnant mama deserves to weigh when making birth decisions and why your providers are only ever talking about one of them.
54:19 – Induction, electronic fetal monitoring, breech birth, AMA...oh my! Hermine breaks down what you actually need to know about each of these and how to navigate these conversations with your provider.
1:08:42 – Hermine's best advice for holding your ground in the birth room without being rude.
You have the right to make every single decision about your body and your birth. No matter what anyone in that room tells you.
Tune in and walk away knowing exactly how to use that right. If you have follow up questions or feedback on this episode, share with me here: [email protected]!
Links & Resources
- Connect with Hermine on Instagram
- Learn more about Hayes Klein Law here
- My Essential Birth Course
- 3 FREE Exercise Guide
Documents to print and put in your hospital bag:
📄 ACOG Ethics Committee Opinion — Maternal Refusal of Medically Recommended Treatment
📄 ACOG Committee Opinion on VBAC
📄 ACOG Committee Opinion on Breech (No. 745, most recent version)
📄 Oregon's Informed Consent Statute — ORS 677.097
Research mentioned:
🔬 The three-country study comparing gestational age and birth timing in the US, England, and the Netherlands — co-authored by Neel Shah and Ank de Jonge, published in PLOS One:
- Amsterdam UMC's plain-language summary of the findings.
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