A resource for every day people to defend human rights during labor & birth.
 
There is no point in pregnancy in which people lose their civil and human rights. And yet all over the world people often experience mistreatment and violations of their rights during pregnancy, whether they experience a pregnancy loss, seek to have an abortion or continue to birth.
 
This reality is particularly present in the United States. A June 2019 study focusing on care during labor and delivery reported that one in six women “reported experiencing one or more types of mistreatment”.
 
Reported rates of mistreatment during childbirth were “consistently higher” for women of color.
 
We also know that doulas and other people providing support to pregnant and birthing people often bear witness to rights violations of clients or loved ones.
 
In a recent survey, 65% of doulas and nurses indicated that they had witnessed providers “occasionally” or “often” engage in procedures explicitly against their patients’ wishes.
 
Rights violations and mistreatment in childbirth take many different forms, including violations of the rights to privacy, bodily autonomy, and medical decision- making.
 
These violations can take place during health care through neglect, coercion, verbal abuse, forced interventions or surgeries; when health care providers unlawfully disclose confidential health information to law enforcement or to State agencies that coordinate with law enforcement; and during incarceration when pregnant people are denied access to health care.
 
This all happens in the context of a U.S. health care system where extreme disparities persist for Indigenous and Black women in particular, where maternal mortality is rising & where some interventions are overused while other effective options are underused. 
 
I recommend you print or bring this digital Ebook with you to your birth, especially if you are going to be in a hospital setting. You can share this with your health care provider to ensure that everyone is aware that YOU are AWARE of your rights. Don't let them play with you.