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Evidence LibraryUnderstanding pregnancy, risk, and consentBeing heard
Evidence Library · Being heard

The profession has already said this needs fixing

In its own literature, not from outside.

The argument that women's dissatisfaction with maternity care is legitimate and that remedying it is part of the job is not a criticism from outside the specialty. It appears in the specialty's own ethics literature.

Writing in the Journal of Clinical Ethics, Chervenak, McCullough and Grünebaum stated that the professional responsibility model of obstetric ethics "requires obstetricians to address and remedy legitimate dissatisfaction with some hospital settings and address patients' concerns about excessive interventions," and that a culture of safety "informed by compassionate and respectful treatment of pregnant women, should be a primary focus of professional obstetric responsibility."

A related paper argues that the right term for what women describe is mistreatment rather than obstetric violence, and that the response should be systemic change. This tool follows that terminology.

Why you are being told thisBecause if you raise a concern and are treated as difficult, it helps to know that senior obstetricians have written in their own journals that taking your concern seriously is part of the job.
Where this comes from:
261. Chervenak FA, McLeod-Sordjan R, Pollet SL, De Four Jones M, Gordon MR, Combs A, et al. Obstetric violence is a misnomer. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2024;230(3S):S1138-S1145.
262. Chervenak FA, McCullough LB, Grünebaum A, Arabin B, Levene MI, Brent RL. Planned home birth in the United States and professionalism: a critical assessment. J Clin Ethics. 2013;24(3):184-191.

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More from Before and at the start

This page is educational. It supports the conversation with your own clinicians. It is not consent to any treatment, and it cannot assess you. If you are worried about a symptom now, see urgent warning signs.