Pregnancy and childbirth are seen as something so beautiful that we don’t hear about the mistreatment that pregnant women receive. Women have experienced verbal abuse, discrimination, denied requests, or not followed through in healthcare facilities. One bad experience can change a woman’s view on healthcare and having children. Our pregnancies and birth experiences can be controlled by us if we know what we want.
It’s hard to take control when you’re in so much pain and the doctors and nurses around you are trying to get everything under control. We have learned to trust the healthcare workers and do what they say because they know best. I am not disagreeing with this, but we should know what works best and what we want after birth so we are not taken advantage of. There are so many ways we can be in control of our bodies during birth.
We want to be able to trust our healthcare workers, but sometimes it is hard when you have bad experiences. Giving birth should be in a safe and comfortable environment where you feel good. We make make this happen for ourselves if we take our time to learn a little bit more about it.
The two most common types of mistreatments are being yelled at or ignored by the healthcare workers (Belluz). We know our bodies best and to know exactly what you want and need is very important. Whether it’s wanting to be in a certain birthing position, feeling like you’re not ready to push, or not wanting a certain medication it is important to know these aspects. I also suggest going through this with whoever you bring into the delivery room. This way they can support you in all your decisions if a worker is ignoring you or does not want to proceed a certain way.
Another tip I suggest is going through all your rights of childbearing. A lot of healthcare workers want to get the birth done and over with so they will rush through certain processes. There are stories of women having extra pain because the before treatment was not done properly or their baby was immediately being taken from them after birth. Having a baby is a very personal and intimate moment, but since a lot of women do not know their rights it can be ruined for them. Down below is a website with the rights of childbearing women. If you had kids, was your birthing experience good or bad? To help make a change share this post with women you know.
Belluz, Julia. “A Shocking Number of Women Are Harassed, Ignored, or Mistreated during Childbirth.” Vox, Vox, 11 June 2019, https://www.vox.com/2019/6/10/18628073/maternal-mistreatment-women-of-color.