Managing communication about bad news

It is important to offer the woman in your care a choice about whether they or a nominated family member should be told bad news first, although offering her a choice may not be in accordance with her cultural expectations (Windsor, 2008).

The provision of culturally appropriate antenatal, perinatal and postnatal care involves clinicians eliciting and complying with women’s preferences and values about disclosure and decision-making processes. Clinicians need to offer autonomy to women while respecting and acknowledging different cultural norms about decision-making. CALD women may prefer family-based decision making processes and may refuse to make decisions in regard to their medical investigations or diagnostic procedures. In these cases, women must be provided with clear and voluntary choices.