On a recent morning, Dr. Brian Fenmore listened to the heartbeat of the baby growing inside a pregnant patient's belly at Providence Tarzana Medical Center.
Everything looked and sounded normal, he says. But the woman is 42-years-old, with diabetes. Fenmore explained that she's at higher risk of having a Cesarean birth. That spurred another discussion.
"If you were to say to me, 'I'm done after this, and I want my tubes tied,' this is a discussion we have to have," Fenmore told his patient.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says immediately following a C-section is the "ideal time" to perform the tubal ligation procedure, "because of technical ease and convenience for the woman and physician." But Fenmore explained that under Providence's religiously-based ethical guidelines, he was prohibited from doing so.