How To Face (or Defeat) Obstetric Violence
The best thing is to know and inform yourself about the biological processes that will develop during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum and breastfeeding. You can start with these references.
Unfortunately, whether you have experienced an episode of obstetric violence or want to prevent it, self-defense is the solution.
Developing a birth plan, delivering it before the expected delivery date, and having it ready when the day arrives is a resource to avoid common malpractices. Also, as we write it, we will really think about what we want at that moment. Everything can change on the day of delivery and you can change your mind and then say what you need even if you have written something else.
Thinking about all the situations that may arise and having the family and / or partner ready to support and enforce your decisions also in the hospital is essential since at that moment you will be so vulnerable that you will need all the strength that they can transmit to you. to deal with the invasive protocols that, unfortunately, abound in most hospitals.
On the other hand , paternalism is part of the medical act and your family and / or your partner must be on your side to oppose this type of treatment with you.
Support and Advice Websites
- From the Apoyocesareas forum of the El Parto es Nuestro association, they provide support as well as information and professional advice. They have midwives who provide scientific and technical information and also offer therapeutic alternatives based on scientific evidence. Hundreds of women are connected to this forum and their words of empathy, strength and respect help heal many wounds.
- Dona Llum is a Catalan association for respected childbirth that also hosts self-help forums. There are many women who dare to write the testimony of the violence. Reading that empathy is generated and you begin to glimpse the magnitude of the problem, because guilt is often one of the consequences of violence.
However, none of these resources have a specific anti-racist vision and, therefore, lack specific tools for denouncing racism in the process of pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum.
- La Revolución de las Rosas, created by Jesusa Ricoy –doula and specialist in obstetric violence–, is a movement to give real support through social networks in addition to making the problem visible. In every country there is a rose revolution. In addition, The Revolution of the Gypsy / Romani Roses is a place to denounce anti-Gypsy ethno-obstetric violence. You can find him on his Facebook page.
Readings on obstetric violence and the perinatal period
- Ibone Olza is a mother, with a degree in Medicine and Surgery and a specialist in Psychiatry, she belongs to El Parto es Nuestro and is an activist for the rights of the baby and mothers. She has written several books on the processes of childbirth and postpartum in clear and simple language. They are ideal to start this improvised master’s degree in obstetrics that force us to study in order to defend our rights. Some of the titles published are: Birth by cesarean section or Giving birth: the power of childbirth .
- Another precious book on the subject is Para Luna, de mama , by Cheli Blasco, because within obstetric violence there is no more invisibility and violence than in perinatal and neonatal death. Cheli Blasco is an activist and is part of the Umamanita Association to support these hard times.
A good film about obstetric violence against gypsies
The scrap dealer’s wife , winner of the Berlin Silver Bear for best male performance, crudely explains the reality of anti-Gypsy ethno-obstetric violence. You can look for it in RTVE, in its A la carte section.
The specificity of anti-Gypsy ethno-obstetric violence is the intersectionality of anti-Gypsyism. To finish understanding what anti-Gypsy ethno-obstetric violence is, it is essential to understand what anti-Gypsyism is and how it works. The Anti-Gypsyism Resource Guide explains all of that and provides some resources to combat it.
