Could, Should Families Watch Their Loved One’s Surgeries And, if So, When?

(Anesth Analg. 2022;135:704–707) The quality of transparency in health care in an ongoing discussion in the United States. An increasing number of families desire to observe surgical procedures and decision-making processes within the operating room (OR). There are some care locations where families are already allowed such as the ED, ICU, and labor and delivery, and patients may move rapidly to or from one of these sites. This article discusses the presence of families (FP) in the procedural and perioperative environment and the factors and situations to consider including family presence during cesarean delivery, all trying to answer the question of whether FP should be part of family-centered care that would provide increased transparency provided there were not risk of worse clinical outcomes.