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What are women's reproductive rights? What should informed consent look like for patients during pregnancy, childbirth and the six-week period? These were the main questions that midwives, midwives and midwifery students at the Faculty of Health Care Studies of the West Bohemian University in Pilsen had the opportunity to discuss with the international expert and lawyer Hermine Hayes-Klein, who visited the Faculty of Health Care Studies of the West Bohemian University in Pilsen on 26 November with a lecture Consent as a foundation.

Participants learned about the history of midwifery care in the context of decision-making about interventions in childbirth and the evolution to woman - centered care. The midwifery students found it very beneficial to reiterate the key elements of informed consent, which ensure that the woman understands all decisions that will be made during labour and is able to make her own decisions freely and voluntarily.

The acronym BRAIN is a useful tool to help make decisions about options and weigh risks, especially in situations where different decisions and their consequences need to be taken into account. Each letter of the BRAIN acronym represents a key issue that facilitates decision analysis: B - Benefits, R - Risks, A - Alternatives, I - Intuition and N - Do Nothing. Research conducted in the Czech Republic shows that women's satisfaction in pregnancy, childbirth or six months of life is quite often negatively influenced by low awareness of interventions and a low sense of control over the situation. Therefore, it is important to reinforce and discuss the topic of informed consent in the teaching of medical students, as well as within the lay and professional community.

The event was held in cooperation with the Association for Maternity Homes and Centres. The executive director of the association Lenka Laubrová Žirovnická said: "Together with other organizations dealing with human reproduction, we are organizing a series of events related to the issue of informed consent, sensitization and education of the public and midwifery staff and students of midwifery, especially regarding rights during childbirth, pregnancy and the six-week period."

An interpreter was present at the lecture and was involved especially during the final discussion. The lecture itself was translated in English by a special app, which could be downloaded to the phone and read the subtitles in Czech simultaneously.