Audio-recording of Consent for Anaesthesia for Elective Caesarean Section

Informed consent should be obtained from patients (with capacity) before treatment - including anaesthesia - is administered. If the consent process is inadequate, it may lead to poor decision-making and dissatisfaction, sometimes leading to complaints or legal claims. Obstetric practice is a high-risk area for medicolegal claims and accurate, reliable documentation of consent is therefore vital in this group. The hypothesis is that audio-recording of consent discussions would provide a record of the discussion for the patient and healthcare staff to refer to later, to assist in understanding and potentially prevent dissatisfaction, complaints and claims; and may improve the consent process itself if both parties know that the discussion will be audio-recorded. This project aims to establish the acceptability and feasibility of audio-recording of consent for elective caesarean section. The investigators will trial the concept by establishing audio-recording of consent for anaesthesia for elective caesarean section, and aim to investigate the views of patients at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital taking part. The investigators aim to address the following research questions: * what are the views of patients (and to a lesser extent, doctors) involved in audio-recording of consent discussions for anaesthesia for elective caesarean section regarding its acceptability and utility? * what were the perceived concerns and/or practical obstacles to overcome in the trial of concept?