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Emily Renée Ellis

Dr. Parker

English 113: Feminist Perspectives

5 October 2018

Labor and Delivery Feminism

In “There Is a Hidden Epidemic of Doctors Abusing Women in Labor, Doulas Say,”

Sarah Yahr Tucker reports on the issue of obstetric violence. Specifically, Tucker examines the

issue through the experiences of various doulas. As the author herself put it, “many doulas say

they witness [abusive maternity care] on a regular basis” (Tucker 2018). Although some people

believe that cases of obstetric violence are simply the “occasional errors of a few ‘old school’

obstetricians,” Tucker insists that “the same behavior [can be seen] from young doctors, female

doctors, midwives, and nurses: It’s happening everywhere” (Tucker 2018). In sum, then, her

view is that “‘Obstetric violence has been visited upon pregnant women by the people that they

look to for help and guidance’” (Tucker 2018).

I agree with the ideas and perceptions talked about in this article. In my view, a

“comprehensive committee opinion” of the American College of Gynecologists and

Obstetricians (ACOG) is not enough when it comes to protecting the rights of women in the

labor and delivery room. For instance, there’s actually no US law against abusive maternity care.

In addition, “the term ‘obstetric violence’ appears nowhere in US law” (Tucker 2018). Some

might object, of course, on the grounds that obstetric violence must not be a very prevalent issue

because “very few women ever make complaints against doctors, midwives, nurses, or hospitals”

(Tucker 2018). Yet I would argue that “most women prefer to put a traumatic birth experience
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behind them as they focus on parenthood” (Tucker 2018). Overall, then, I believe that more must

be done to protect the rights of intrapartum patients.

“In standard OB-GYN care women are barred from making choices in ways that would

be unthinkable in other medical situations” (Tucker 2018). I believe that “the root of this

approach, and of obstetric violence, is the idea that a mother and baby are separate entities, [and]

that the baby has ‘rights’ that supersede the mother’s” (Tucker 2018). I am of the opinion that

this idea, or this way of thinking, perpetuates the treatment view of women as objects, in this

case, as an object of baby making, rather than as individuals with their own human rights. From a

feminist perspective, then, I might understand this particular issue in a contemporary moment,

such as discussions of and about women’s reproductive rights. I might also see this particular

feminist perspective playing out in society in different ways. One way I might see this particular

feminist perspective playing out in society is in the politics that surround women’s reproductive

rights and the policies that either protect or violate those rights. A second way I might see this

particular feminist perspective playing out in society is in religious attitudes toward women, their

purposes, and most specifically their reproductive rights. A third way I might see this particular

feminist perspective playing out in society is in the education of myself as a nursing student, and

of everyone about this issue. This article gave me a better understanding of both what obstetric

violence is, what all it includes, and how often it is enacted and experienced. This better

understanding has impacted my feminist identity not by changing it, but by widening my

perspective of what my feminist identity includes. In other words, it has connected to and built

upon my previous identity. For example, obstetric violence, like all oppressions, are experienced

and enacted intersectionally.

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Works Cited

Tucker, Sarah Yahr. “There Is a Hidden Epidemic of Doctors Abusing Women in Labor, Doulas

Say.” Broadly, VICE, 8 May 2018, broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/evqew7/obstetric-

violence-doulas-abuse-giving-birth.