Birth Activism and Obstetric Violence: Interview with Ibone Olza by Elena Skoko I met Ibone at my first meeting of the COST Action BIRTH in Lancaster (UK) in 2015, as part of this European research project where researchers, policymakers, and activists work together to produce and disseminate scientific literature on the topic of normal or…
Official statement addressed to leading Spanish institutions in the field of health and equality Madrid, February 17th, 2020 From the association El Parto es Nuestro and other associations working for the improvement of maternity care, we want to warn of the current dangers of judicialization and criminalisation of childbirth in Spain. This…
A study published in the latest edition of Archives of Women’s Health has found that instrumental births (those requiring forceps, vacuum extraction, etc.) and cesarean sections are related to a higher number of psychological difficulties after birth – ranging from lack of adjustment to motherhood to post-traumatic stress disorder. To put these conclusions into perspective,…
According to some sources, when a woman in Sparta (Ancient Greece) hadn’t gone into labour after nine months, other women would go to her house to berate her almost violently. They would hurl all the grievances in her face that they had kept to themselves during the pregnancy and the heated exchange usually triggered the…
Obstetricians… Two of the mothers I visited today at the breastfeeding clinic recounted their birth stories to me. Though both had been similar in the workings (hospital births, vaginal, no epidural, some synthetic oxytocin), each mother had a completely different story to tell. For one, it had been a wonderful, empowering experience. For…
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes a “positive childbirth experience” as a significant end point for all women undergoing labor. It defines a positive childbirth experience as one that fulfils or exceeds a woman’s prior personal and sociocultural beliefs and expectations, including giving birth to a healthy baby in a clinically and psychologically safe environment…
A UN report published in April 2019 warns against “the widespread and systematic phenomenon of violence towards women and girls in reproductive services”, and urges states to “address the structural problems and root causes of violence against women in reproductive health services, with a focus on childbirth and obstetric violence.” We publish below an…
by Ibone Olza, MD, PhD Originally Published in Midwifery Today Int Midwife. 2013 Spring;(105):48-9, 68 Childbirth can be a traumatic event for many women. Different studies have found a high prevalence of trauma symptoms following childbirth. In a British study, up to a third of all women reported that labour was traumatic and that they…
