Obstetricians alarmed by obstetric violence references in ‘MeToo of childbirth’ inquiry
RANZCOG says the phrase implies that obstetricians were intentionally harming women during childbirth.
Doctors are criticising the adoption of the term ‘obstetric violence’ in a parliamentary inquiry into the prevalence of birth trauma.
Dubbed the ‘MeToo of childbirth’, more than 4000 submissions have been made to the NSW Select Committee on Birth Trauma, with women describing their experiences of alleged clinical incompetence and the lack of consent surrounding interventions.
During the first hearing last week, the inquiry was told that a third of women had experienced some form of “obstetric trauma”, and around one in 10 had reported “obstetric violence”.
The figures are based on a 2019 survey of 8000 women by Professor Hannah Dahlen, from the school of nursing and midwifery at Western Sydney University.
