Obstetric Violence is a form of reproductive violence that exists at the intersection of Institutional/structural violence and gender-based violence [May28.org], it's woven into every part of reproductive healthcare, this includes care during pregnancy (including preconception care, fertility care and all pregnancy outcomes), childbirth, and postpartum (early parenting, infant feeding, and so much more).
It occurs across care settings (public and private) including at home births, clinic appointments, in hospital settings, birth centres, and with all types of care providers (OB/GYNs, family doctors, nurses, midwives, students, anaesthetists, ultrasound techs and so on).
An Umbrella Term:
Obstetric Violence is an umbrella term that covers a lot of ground. When we talk about Obstetric Violence we're talking about all of these things and much more:
- verbal, emotional, physical sexual, psychological abuse & violation
- failure to meet professional standards of care
- racism, white supremacy, colonialism
- misogyny, cisheterosexism, transphobia
- bias, stigma, discrimination, bigotry [ableism, fatphobia, all the -isms]
- prioritizing care provider's agenda
- institutional betrayal
- threats, lies, forced & coerced procedures
- violating right to bodily autonomy & integrity
- disregarding embodied knowledge, dismissing & ignoring client concerns
- one-size-fits-all pathologization
- medical paternalism
- absence of trauma informed care as a universal precaution
- disdain for physiological processes
- health system constraints
- preventable morbidity & mortality
- lack of informed choice & consent
- poor rapport between patients & providers
- policy & routine over "evidence-based" practice
- gaslighting, victim blaming, lack of accountability
Do any of these examples sound familiar? Consider sharing your story here on the Community Story Blog. Now welcoming submissions from patients and professionals across Canada.
Sources include:
May28.org
Smith & Freyd 2014
Bohren, et al, 2015
Reed, Sharman &Inglis, 2017
Williams, Jerez, Klein, Correa, Belizán, Cormick, 2018
posted by Kate Macdonald