14/03/2023
Perfectly said π€
The number 1 question Iβm asked is, what should women know before they go into hospital to have their baby and my answer is always thisβ¦
Hospitals run like a well-organised factory, there are people who work in the factory to keep it running efficiently and do what it was designed for.
In order for a factory to run safely and efficiently, there needs to be a set of rules and procedures and timing that staff will follow. This helps everyone work as a team to move you and your baby through the factory/hospital as quickly and βsafelyβ as possible so at the end there is a well live woman and a well live babyβ¦ at their core, these rules are well-intentioned, they were genuinely created with the idea that they would improve care for women.
Iβm not saying itβs a right or wrong way to organise a maternity care facility, Iβm just saying this is how it isβ¦ there are midwives and doctors who work in these systems do to their absolute best to work around rules that limit womenβs autonomy and they are absolute heroβs in my eyes.
For women, I encourage you to remember that these policies/rules/procedures are fundamentally not made for you to follow, they are made for your care provider to follow. You are not obligated to follow the policy, your care provider is. The policy is not there for you, itβs there for them.
The policy might be best and safest for some circumstances but not all and just because they are the rules of that hospital, you donβt have to follow them. There is room for your choices and autonomy - but youβll have to fight for it.
Ways that you can resist and decline policies and procedures that donβt serve you are:
1. Plan to birth out of hospital if thatβs possible for you
2. Go to hospital as late as possible during your labour
3. Have a support team that know what you want and are willing to advocate for you
4. Have a support team that believes in your capabilities
5. Consider hiring a doula if your team canβt fill the advocacy role
6. Call the hospital early in your pregnancy and ask to be on their midwifery group practice program