Mothers Deserve Better

“The whole point of woman-centered birth is the knowledge that a woman is the birth power source. She may need, and deserve, help, but in essence, she always had, currently has, and will have the power.”   ~ Heather McCue

Believe it or not, many pregnant and birthing women cross state lines to get the kind of care they deserve.  They give birth in hotels, hours away from their own homes so they can have a “home birth”.  Women seeking a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), labor in the parking lots of hospitals so they can “walk in pushing” hoping to avoid an unnecessary cesarean.  Every day women are bullied into cesareans or inductions for a suspected big baby just because the OB’s malpractice insurance thinks it’s less risky.  Shouldn’t women have access to all the evidence based information they need from their care provider and then be trusted to make a sound decision for themselves and their babies?  I have heard stories of countless women who spend their entire pregnancy under the care of a doctor who is nice to them, makes them feel comfortable and who seems to be on board with the type of birth they desire.  These doctors suddenly turn the tables at the very end of pregnancy or during labor, sometimes using scare tactics to convince their vulnerable patients to go along with whatever they say.  Often, the “doctor’s orders” go against what has been scientifically proven to benefit birthing women and their babies.   So many women feel the need to drastically change their approach to the type of care they seek for subsequent births because they were so damaged, physically and emotionally by the way they were cared for with their first birth.  The term “birth rape” should not exist.  There are actually women out there who feel so violated by their birth experiences that they feel they were raped.   Doesn’t that sound so 3^rd worldish? Nope, it’s going on right here in our country.  We treat pregnant/birthing women and new mothers so poorly in this country.  It is a disgrace.

It is so sad to me that childbearing women have to fight for their rights to be cared for in a way that is, not just scientifically proven, but is gentle, kind and holistic.  As if we don’t have enough on our plates with making sure that we are taking care of ourselves and our families, preparing physically and emotionally for a new baby, and all the worry that goes along with it. Mothers deserve better.

So, what’s the solution?  Women need access to licensed and regulated midwives in hospitals AND in their homes in every state.  We need midwives and OBs to use technology judiciously with every patient.  Care providers need to provide ALL the risks and benefits to their patients of every drug and procedure administered during pregnancy, labor and delivery.  Care providers, then, must respect a woman’s decision on how to proceed, even if she refuses treatment altogether.  We need to stop the assembly line style of care for birthing women in hospitals.   Women need doctors who actually care about their health and wellbeing more than their own pockets.  We also need major reform of malpractice and health insurance policies.  All women should have adequate physical and emotional support in labor.  We need to assuage women’s fears of giving birth, starting with how it is portrayed in the media.  Women should have access to a decent amount of paid maternity leave to be allowed time to bond with their babies and establish breastfeeding.  We need to stop treating women like leapers for breastfeeding in public. We need to be fighting for all these things FOR birthing women.  When it comes time for a woman to experience pregnancy and birth, she should not have to do any fighting or defending of her rights.  Above all, we need to respect mothers and we need to respect how important the process of giving birth is, not just to mothers and babies, but to our society as a whole. 

My vision for this blog is to help educate and enlighten readers to the transgressions within our current maternity care system, but more importantly to empower and support women through the most important time in their lives.