Editing Pediatrics (section)

=== History of pediatric autonomy ===
The term autonomy is traceable to ethical theory and law, where it states that autonomous individuals can make decisions based on their own logic.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Katz|first1=Aviva L.|last2=Webb|first2=Sally A.|last3=COMMITTEE ON BIOETHICS|last4=Macauley|first4=Robert C.|last5=Mercurio|first5=Mark R.|last6=Moon|first6=Margaret R.|last7=Okun|first7=Alexander L.|last8=Opel|first8=Douglas J.|last9=Statter|first9=Mindy B.|date=2016-08-01|title=Informed Consent in Decision-Making in Pediatric Practice|journal=Pediatrics|volume=138|issue=2|pages=e20161485|doi=10.1542/peds.2016-1485|pmid=27456510|s2cid=7951515|issn=0031-4005|doi-access=free}}</ref> Hippocrates was the first to use the term in a medical setting. He created a code of ethics for doctors called the ''[[Hippocratic Oath]]'' that highlighted the importance of putting patients' interests first, making autonomy for patients a top priority in health care.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|date=2020|editor-last=Mazur|editor-first=Kate A.|editor2-last=Berg|editor2-first=Stacey L.|title=Ethical Issues in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22684-8|language=en-gb|pages=13–21|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-22684-8|isbn=978-3-030-22683-1|s2cid=208302429}}</ref>   

In ancient times, society did not view pediatric medicine as essential or scientific.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last1=Stern|first1=Alexandra Minna|url=https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/dn39x232m|title=Formative Years: Children's Health in the United States, 1880-2000|last2=Markel|first2=Howard|date=2002|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-02503-9|pages=23–24|language=en|doi=10.3998/mpub.17065|access-date=30 November 2021|archive-date=30 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130164350/https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/dn39x232m|url-status=live}}</ref> Experts considered professional medicine unsuitable for treating children. Children also had no rights. Fathers regarded their children as property, so their children's health decisions were entrusted to them.<ref name=":4" /> As a result, mothers, midwives, "wise women", and general practitioners treated the children instead of doctors.<ref name=":14" /> Since mothers could not rely on professional medicine to take care of their children, they developed their own methods, such as using alkaline soda ash to remove the vernix at birth and treating teething pain with opium or wine. The absence of proper pediatric care, rights, and laws in health care to prioritize children's health led to many of their deaths. Ancient Greeks and Romans sometimes even killed healthy female babies and infants with deformities since they had no adequate medical treatment and no laws prohibiting infanticide.<ref name=":4" />

In the twentieth century, medical experts began to put more emphasis on children's rights. In 1989, in the United Nations Rights of the Child Convention, medical experts developed the Best Interest Standard of Child to prioritize children's rights and best interests. This event marked the onset of pediatric autonomy. In 1995, the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] (AAP) finally acknowledged the Best Interest Standard of a Child as an ethical principle for pediatric decision-making, and it is still being used today.<ref name=":22" />