Conclusion

Ethics is an essential dimension of the professionally responsible clin­ical practice of obstetrics and gynaecology. Our goal in this chapter has been to provide ethical guidance, based on the professional re­sponsibility model of ethics in obstetrics and gynaecology, for com­monly encountered ethical challenges in clinical practice. This model emphasizes both the professional virtues of doctors and ethical principles. Together, these virtues and principles generate the ethical obligations of obstetrician-gynaecologists to their patients. The result is a model for ethics in obstetrics and gynaecology that is ethically sound and clinically actionable, comprehensive, and practical.