What’s Birth Rape?
I can’t possibly explain birth rape better than Amity Reed at the f word:
A woman who is raped while giving birth does not experience the assault in a way that fits neatly within the typical definitions we hold true in civilised society. A penis is usually nowhere to be found in the story and the perpetrator may not even possess one. But fingers, hands, suction cups, forceps, needles and scissors… these are the tools of birth rape and they are wielded with as much force and as little consent as if a stranger grabbed a passer-by off the street and tied her up before having his way with her. Women are slapped, told to shut up, stop making noise and a nuisance of themselves, that they deserve this, that they shouldn’t have opened their legs nine months ago if they didn’t want to open them now. They are threatened, intimidated and bullied into submitting to procedures they do not need and interventions they do not want. Some are physically restrained from moving, their legs held open or their stomachs pushed on.
Birth rape is the violence and assault women are subjected to by those they are trusting to safely care for them while they give birth. It is ignoring a woman’s refusal of procedure. It is anything which in any other situation would be considered assault/battery. It is the culture of intimidation, threats and coercion prevalent in hospitals today, which has even spread to some midwives.
Those who abuse pregnant and birthing women under the guise of care giving need to be called to account. Sadly, most people are unwilling to admit women are routinely assaulted by doctors, nurses and midwives. Women need to tell their stories so that one day these abusers can’t hide behind claims of doing their jobs to avoid the legal and professional repercussions of their abuse.
This is what I went thru at bellevue hospital in manhattan. They even went so far as to falsify medical redords, and place a security guard at my door to keep me from leaving and seeking care elsewhere. I ended up having a c-section, in which they dropped the knife, cut my hip and didn’t bother stitching the gash. It is a complete violation of the trust we as women in labor afford those who are supposed to care for us.
Don’t forget that after she was born they wouldn’t allow you a breast pump, so now you can’t breastfeed, and constantly ignored your requests for your medicine, which you can not go without.
I also believe they ignored your request for pain medicine, on top of the medicine which you were prescribed, and I had to track down the nurse 3-4 times over the course of an hour to keep pestering them about getting it done.
I also believe the staff was making fun of you (and your guests) behind your/their backs, were nasty and snarky with you to your face while pretending to have your best interests in place, spelled your daughter’s name wrong, etc.
Bellevue is the worst hospital ever.
Oh yeah, and the internal stitches from the c-section (that you didn’t want) got infected because they did them wrong and were sticking out of the wound.
[...] not go as planned, but there is a big difference between plans being altered and what they call birth rape. I’m not being extreme. I’ve read stories and talked to women who felt so out of control [...]
There is a HUGE difference between RAPE and the violent intervention that some women experience during childbirth, after such a traumatic experience you have legal avenues available to go to and report experiences to a medical board and others to stop this happening to other women. I am a rape 4 times, incest and torture survivor and believe the psychiatric care l am now on will help me in the years to come, however claiming or associating rape to what is now called BIRTH RAPE is ludicrous. I have no doubt the trauma for these women is very real but find another term for it, it resembles actual rape in no way, shape or form!
Many women who have survived “real” rape have said their birth rape was as bad or worse. And the FBI’s legal definition of rape includes having anything inserted in your genitals without your consent, which would also cover vaginal exams, amniotomy and many other procedures. Having it done by a doctor nurse or midwife does not make it any less an act of violence and, yes, rape. I’m very sorry for your experiences, I hope you can find some way to heal,but you don’t get to tell women who have been violated what they can call their experience.
I’m an incest, rape and molestation survivor too, and I can think of no better term to define this BRUTAL act.
In SA someone can be “raped” by numerous objects, not just by a penis. “Raping” isnt neccessarily sexualy motivated… Birth Rape is a correct term! It cannot be anythin else! Your basic right of choice is taken from you!
At first I thought that rape was a strong word for this. Then I thought of what I had to endure during childbirth and slightly avoid the same thing when it came to forceps by a male dr that was not my OB. I felt like he was a pervert and the way he presented himself was very unprofessional and I did not want him down there any longer. So I got rid of him, do YES I can see how this is a firm of rape, some stranger trying to convince my OB to shove a foreign object into my Vagina to “get the baby out”. It’s scary and he wouldn’t say why. So yes it seems to me that that’s a form of rape….. I told them that that was not an option, so c-section it was, after fighting the c-section for an hour. It’s really disappointing when you can’t give birth the way you’ve planned and it’s esalarming to find a strange man that youve never met staring at your crotch touching you and wanting to shove an object into your vagina to get the baby.
Anon74 firstly have the decency to list your name as l have if you choose to reply to my comments, secondly l am Not disagreeing that what these women are experiencing is not a traumatic event just that another term could be best served to describe it, l stand by my earlier comments and will continue to do so. The survivors of these traumatic events should get together and solidify their complaints especially if it is happening at a few particular hospitals and those associated doctors. Get help for the emotional trauma they are experiencing as l have for my problems, Perhaps they could get together as a support network to help each other and that their partners could also go to to understand how devastating it was and continues to be in their lives. Finally l wish them all well with their lovely bundles of joy both now and in the coming years.
I’m anonymous because this is my site and after my husband received death threats for a far less controversial site, I choose to protect my family and remain anonymous.
There is a difference between birth trauma and birth rape. Birth rape, in most cases, fits the FBI’s recently revised legal definition of rape http://blogs.justice.gov/main/archives/1801
Lady…you sound very close-minded, and I am a rape and incest, molestation survivor, my dad beat my mom to a pulp my whole entire life, you are not the only one in the world that has been through crap. I’m sure you are damaged by what has happened to you, but so are these women, and they have gotten to together to create a term for what has happened to them. Doctors have shoved forceps into these women against there will, gave epistomy’s the wrong way, didn’t stitch up there body’s correctly, all of these things are against these women’s will. Not having a caring doctor in a labor situation can lead to all types of problems and buturing of the female organs, I know these women happen to be very much suffering the same as a rape victim, they most likely blame themselves, have repeated flashbacks of the pain and not being in control of the situation just like rape victims. One friend of mine was forced to puch a 9 pound baby out and she can’t even laugh or sneeze, or she will urinate on herself, not to mention how the husband acts after not just the change in weight but the change in sex when things don’t go right. Other things can happen too, like vaginal and uterine prolapse, why don’t you do some medical research and get an idea what that is like, or how about rectocele. I am a medical student and I can’t even imagine how much pain, and the after math of what these women go through, not to mention body disfigurement. This is the name that women have come up with that have suffered malpractice in their labor. I think if you have suffered alot you should be a little more sympathetic, it is really self-centered to be like, “Oh that’s not like my situation.” I don’t think that is right, you should educate yourself on things that can go wrong with labor, focusing on anothers suffering can help you take the focus off your own, focusing on what happened to only you will only make your situation worse, as victims ourselves we have to look at the bigger picture and realize we are not alone and we can all stand together in sufferings as women and help one another. God Bless All
And..It looks like they are coming together to make a support group right here on line, and I support birth rape victims, and all rape victims in the road to recovery.
Whilst you are certainly entitled to your opinion, so too am l entitled to mine. I choose to disagree with you and that is the bottom line. And no l am Not closed minded about what these women have been through, if you had read through what l said fully it was Not to deny what had happened to these women only to find something else to call it.
This is all very horrifying, and just shows how careful women need to be when choosing their doctor for their birth. They should also have a loved one with them that they can trust.
In my opinion, yes it would be traumatic. However all I would concerned about is getting the baby delivered safely. I, as a woman, would not care if someone slapped me or told me to shut up. Again at that point I just want my kid born healthily and if there’s no time to talk then so be it.
[...] she did not use the term “birth rape,” I did. What is birth rape? “Birth rape is the violence and assault women are subjected to by those they are trusting to [...]
Birth Rape « rowdypat said this on May 5, 2012 at 4:56 am |
Wow, society has come so far with their audacity… I understand how one could be victimized by a brutal attack, whether it is rape, incest, molestation, or assault of any sort. But to sit there and say the “doctors, nurses and hospital staff” as a whole are vicious sex fiends (mind you, the intent was not sexual in nature) that are out to get you and humiliate you is just ignorant. I apologize for my strong words but I will not apologize for expressing my opinion. Also, while you are looking up the FBI’s definition of rape, why don’t you look up the classification as well. They are not holding women against their will and “attacking them with foreign objects.” They are bringing a life into this world the best way they know how. Let’s see you go have a baby on your own, no medical staff, and have that baby come breach. What are we going to do when all of these new terms and “crimes” prevent us from having any sort of medical care when we need it… Like we already have seen? I am NOT saying that women, men and children haven’t been victimized by ANY doctor or medical staff, what I am saying is quit throwing all medical professionals in the same category! Using a phrase like “BIRTH RAPE!” is meant to catch your eye, just as it did mine. Don’t let these catchy phrases rule your thought. If you are really this passionate about this topic, do some real research without bias. Don’t let all the bad people in the world cloud your vision and prevent you from seeing good in the world. I’m sorry for all the victims in the world, but please don’t make it EASIER to become a victim by lowering the threshold.
Actually, they are. I’ve heard far too many stories of women screaming “NO!” while medical staff, and sometimes even their partners at the orders of medical staff, are forcibly held down while being penetrated by fingers or amniohooks or other medical instruments. I really don’t understand how people do not understand that this is rape. The motivation of the staff doesn’t matter. In no other profession or branch of medicine would you get away with ignoring the refusal of the person who hired you.
Thanks, I have. 3 times. No breech babies,but I was prepared for that and know several women who have birthed breech babies either accidentally or on purpose with no professional. it actually an=mazes me that any women who have experienced birth rape return to the medical profession for any reason, much less birthing.
Also, I don’t believe I’ve ever said or even implied anything about the medical profession as a whole. A very dear friend works as an L&D nurse and I know of many other nurses, and even a few doctors, who work to empower birthing women and respect their choices. There is, however, a very paternalistic culture in medicine that causes far too many to not only think they know better, but to also think that gives them the right to force procedures on people who refuse. OB’s are particularly bad for this behaviour, probably because all their patients are women and our society has a history of infantalizing women and believing we are incapable of making informed decisions about ourselves and our children.
i know this is happening , this happend to my sister and i witness it as well, My sister was verbal abuse and the nurse that was suppose to help her was fustrated and took it out on her, the other sister physically push a pregnant women on the bed while she is in so much pain and all she wanted was to stand to ease the pain, these incidents happends in our local Hospitals like kalk broumer, Groote Schuur and most of all at retreat Maternity ward, Gud there the nurse are just plain rude, it is like they treat you like a nothing, But yet these people get away with it
This is appalling.