YOUR WORDS CAN CUT ME DOWN…
...or your words can raise me up.
Your placenta will fail
Do you want a dead baby?
Your body isn’t responding as we hoped it would
Due to your age
You need to try harder
There can be problems with older mothers
If you don't push harder we'll need to cut you
Your body is refusing to go into labour
Your body is not responding to the (insert induction medicine choice) well
Stop shouting and push
You are not doing it properly
Unfavourable cervix
Poor maternal effort
With a BMI like yours
Your baby will be delivered by
Calm down it is just Braxton Hicks
Good girl
You must
She.
We have a problem with language and how we use it. These words, sometimes so flippantly used, were listed on a birth group that I am a member of. I also hear them regularly in my own FB group. They are but a short list of the many phrases and words used either purposely, or not, when speaking to a pregnant or labouring person.
They are sometimes meant to make her comply. Sometimes they are just a hangover to bygone days.
Nothing mean or personal.. Just habit.
But of all the 171,146 words in the English language, are these honestly the best words and phrases that could have been used?
Really?
In the BMJ blog ‘Humanising Birth’ they state:
‘With improved knowledge among women and a renewed recognition of respect for human rights in childbirth, comes an equalisation of status between doctor and woman. To recognise this, the guideline (NICE Intrapartum Care Guideline) envisages “a culture of respect for each woman” and the clinician should “ensure that the woman is in control of and involved in what is happening to her, and recognise that the way in which care is given is key to this.” The role of birth attendant is no longer “owner” of the situation but “facilitator” of the health services.’
It would seem from the short list above that there are quite a few clinicians that need reminding of this fact. And any care provider threatening to ‘cut’ a woman would surely be better placed in a Scorcese movie than a maternity ward.