We believe that the birth process is a monumental experience in which a mother should be honored, valued, respected and revered. And yet, we continue to hear stories that express a number of grievances encountered by Moms during their births. Some mothers experience unfair treatment, cause for complaint, disrespect and even abuse during their birth process.
Because a birth may be a rare or even a solitary experience for one woman, she may not pursue official reprimand for any injustice she suffers. However, this choice of inaction proffers a disservice to the women who come after her and encounter similar unregulated affronts.
So we make a call for stories. Stories that explain the grievances you or others may have experienced throughout a mother's pregnancy or birth experience; stories that necessitate action for a higher level of respect and ethical practice among our medical care givers.
We hope that by gathering a collection of stories, we may better unite as one voice. Though we may not be able to change what we have experienced in the past, we may be able to create better, safer circumstances for our sisters that follow us into their time of delivery and initiation into motherhood. This is an open invitation to all mothers, fathers, family members, doulas, medical caretakers or anyone involved in the birth process who wishes to better honor or better advocate for the birthing mothers of our community.
Please email SouthTexasBirthAdvocates@gmail.com
Fortunately most of the births I've attended have been pleasant, but I had one client who looked liked she'd been in a fight instead of running a race at the end of her birth. It was a normal labor from a natural childbirth perspective, but the staff kept giving her time limits and she became frustrated. When it came time to push they actually allowed her to push in positions that were comfortable for her until baby crowned. Then they had her semi-recline so the birth attendant could 'see' better. The mom was told it was absolutely necessary to hold her breath while pushing because she was losing momentum by breathing through the pushes. Then she was threatened and told that if she didn't push the baby out that an episiotomy would be performed. This mom pushed so hard that her eyes bulged and were completely red with blood shot by the end. She was successful and both mom and baby were healthy, but I felt bad for the demands made on this new mother.
ReplyDeleteCassie Soule
Labor support person
Hypnobabies hypno-doula