One year ago, I told you the story of Yasmine, a Muslim woman who had a bad experience while giving birth in an American hospital due to misunderstandings with the hospital staff with regards to her religious beliefs and practices. Yasmine's story serves to identify some common concerns of Muslims who seek medical treatment in the US but if we are to gain from her misfortune then it is necessary to develop the strategies which will help other Muslim women prevent and avoid similar situations. Having spoken to many other Muslim women about this issue and also having learned from my own experiences (both good and bad), I have come up with the following advice for Muslim women who plan to give birth in the hospital.
The modesty issue is probably the single biggest obstacle the Muslim woman will encounter in the hospital. While Islam does not prevent Muslim women from receiving treatment from male doctors, it is not preferred if there is a qualified female available to perform the same job. Many Muslim women try to avoid seeing male doctors unless there is a real emergency and would probably not feel comfortable doing so while alone or uncovered more than necessary in order to receive treatment.
Most Muslim women giving birth for the first time will simply choose a female obstetrician or midwife to provide for their care and never give a second thought to the issue of privacy. But choosing a female doctor is really just the first step of many in working to secure a hospital stay during which privacy is not compromised.
It is important to realize that many doctors work in group practices which may also include males. If your doctor is not able to make it to the birth of your baby, one of the other doctors will be called in to replace her. In the case of midwives, they are not able to perform emergency surgery and may also need the assistance of back-up doctors during other complicated medical procedures. While none of this can be prevented or even known before the time your baby is born, you can try to plan for such situations by looking for all-female practices or midwives who are affiliated with female back-up doctors. If this is not possible then at least let your doctor know ahead of time that you would rather have a female replacement rather than a male one: a practice that has a mixture of male and female doctors may be able to
