"Don't Make a Scene"
"Just don't make a scene ok!" Have you ever heard someone say that? I have heard this and various other phrases when advocating for human rights in childbirth. I was recently told by a friend to ignore those comments and keep speaking up. It really made me think............are these phrases just another way to try to get women to "shut up"? The conclusion I have come to is yes.
I remember a few years ago when there was an article written by a woman about women being "fussy" in childbirth. If you understand the History of childbirth in our country you understand why this is a horrendous thing to say. What I didn't realize was that lately many of my critics were just as bad. I have heard "have a more intelligent conversation about it." Because quoting the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Healthy People 2020, and the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative isn't intelligent? Or "why don't you try to sit down with them and talk?" We keep inviting them but we get no response. Or my favorite "Women should just seek care somewhere else." News flash people, we have one hospital in our town and not all women can afford to go somewhere else.
At what point is making a scene necessary? Do we have to wait for things to be as bad as they were in the 1920's where women were drugged up, strapped to a bed and had their babies pulled out of them? I choose to not wait and to not let us get anywhere near that point again!
I choose to stand up and have my voice be heard. Women deserve respectful care in childbirth. They deserve facts, not fear. When we are living in the only developed country with a rising maternal mortality rate its time to say enough is enough.
So even if your voice is shaking speak truth. When we do it together we will be a choir that can no longer be ignored.
