Subject to the provisions of article L. 1111-7 and for legitimate reasons which the midwife assesses according to her conscience, a patient may be kept in ignorance of a serious diagnosis or prognosis concerning her.
A fatal prognosis should only be revealed to the patient with the greatest circumspection, but the family should generally be informed, unless the patient has previously forbidden any disclosure of her state of health or designated the third parties to whom such disclosure should be made.