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Photography in the delivery room ? parents feel like they have a right...

... and the doctors and hospital staff don't like doing their work on camera.

Many hospitals allow and even encourage recording because modern cameras, particularly those taking video, are so unobtrusive. But that same technology has introduced a wild card into a fraught scene that could shock a jury ? with the mother screaming and staff responding (or not) to what may look like an emergency ? all of which can be edited to misrepresent what actually took place....

?When we had people videotaping, it got to be a bit of a media circus,? Dr. Tracy said, adding that the banning of cameras evolved through general practice rather than a written policy. ?I want to be 100 percent focused on the medical care, and in this litigious atmosphere, where ads are on TV every 30 seconds about suing, it makes physicians gun shy.?...

Dr. Elliott Main, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, which also allows filming of births, said, ?The modern approach is not to ban cameras but to do drills and practice.?

?Where you get into trouble is where people panic or don?t know what to do next and have blank looks on their faces,? he said. Videotaping simulated births, he said, can help the medical staff adjust their behavior.

Now, part of medical training is: Acting!

Look like you're doing the right thing, even when you're confused and you know you're hurting someone. That would be a good approach even without the cameras, but medical personnel ? like politicians ? need to adjust their demeanor and expression for the world of YouTube.

Full post as published by Althouse on February 02, 2011 (boomark / email).