Human Rights In Childbirth.

Mission: The mission of HRiC is to clarify and promote the fundamental human rights of pregnant people. We exist to: Connect people with resources in their region who work to advance the birthing rights of their local populations. Educate by tracking the legal and political events that influence pregnant people’s rights in childbirth, and disseminate this information to providers, lawmakers, and families through conferences and published materials. Advocate by coordinating legal advocacy, grassroots mobilization, legislative work, and media outreach to advance human rights in childbirth.

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Human Rights in Childbirth

Supporting every mother's rights during the birth of her child

OUR INDIEGOGO FUNDRAISER IS ENDING ON JULY 30th. 

PLEASE SIGNAL BOOST! 

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I Support Human Rights in Childbirth Because... by Anna Van Wagoner - Human Rights in Childbirth

The "war on women" does not end when a pregnancy is carried to term. We have many laws and medical customs that restrict a woman's basic human right to have control over her own body.

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Hermine Hayes-Klein speaking at the 2014 ICM (International Congress of Midvies) in Prague. 

"Midwives are the keepers of healthy birth" - Hermine Hayes-Klein

http://humanrightsinchildbirth.com

[humanrightsinchildbirth]

We each come into this world through the body of a woman. Each one of us lived within another’s being. From the beginning of our capacity to take in sound, we heard two heartbeats. Within the safety of our mother’s womb, we could feel her move, dance, laugh, and cry. We come from our mothers. This basic fact unites humanity.

How women are treated as they birth each generation is a vital subject we must examine when considering the wellbeing of any society. No woman should be manipulated by for-profit institutions as she navigates the oft-times complicated waters of modern obstetrical care. To be treated with dignity, respect, and as a complete person — with mind, body, and heart integrated — is key to successful and meaningful birth outcomes. It is also a fundamental right of every birthing woman. Optimal birth conditions should not be relegated only to the privileged few.

Out of respect for the women that birth humanity, we must enshrine, through custom and law, structures that uphold the dignity of choice and the wisdom of evidenced-based care. Human Rights in Childbirth is a movement whose time has come.

– Amy Wright Glenn, Author of Birth, Breath, and Death — Meditations on Motherhood, Chaplaincy, and Life as a Doula

[katiohead]

Opening remarks (by Hermine Hayes-Klein) to the Human Rights in Childbirth Conference held last year in the Hague.

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THE FINALE OF THE FIRST HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHILDBIRTH CONFERENCE, 2012, AT THE HAGUE.

The First International Human Rights in Childbirth Conference The Hague, The Netherlands

On May 31 and June 1, 2012, over 300 men and women gathered at The Hague University for a conference on Human Rights in Childbirth. The audience and panelists came from dozens of countries around the world. They were lawyers, doctors, midwives, anthropologists, sociologists, ethicists, philosophers, doulas, epidemiologists, politicians, students, and most of all, mothers and fathers. Over two days, this group brought this enormous range of personal, professional, and cultural perspectives to bear on the systematic analysis of the spectrum of issues relevant to human rights in childbirth.

Each day of the conference consisted of four 90-minute panels addressing a different set of issues. May 31 was devoted to international and fundamental human rights in childbirth. June 1 focused on the Dutch birth system, convening as many stakeholders in the Dutch system as possible for dialogue about its past, present and future.

[humanrightsinchildbirth]

Who Makes the Decisions in Childbirth?

Everybody working in maternity care shares a common goal: healthy mothers, and healthy babies.  Governments, NGOs, and providers are working around the world to help ensure that every mother and baby survives birth.  But more is at stake in pregnancy and childbirth than survival alone, and obstetric models of care can either protect or violate the fundamental human rights of the women they serve.  The care that women receive during pregnancy and childbirth intersects with the rights to physical integrity, self-determination, privacy, family life, and spiritual freedom.

Women do not lose their basic human rights once they become pregnant. And yet, across the globe, women’s human rights are compromised and violated around childbirth. Examinations, interventions and procedures that pose risks to both mothers and their babies are routinely performed without informed consent, or through coerced compliance via threats or fear. When women come out of childbirth with post-partum PTSD from disrespect, abuse, or obstetric violence, the goal of a “healthy mother and healthy baby” has not been met.

Every woman has the right to access the healthcare support that she, personally, needs for a healthy birth.  Every woman has the right to be respected as the decision-maker about her own care and her baby’s care.  Every healthcare system should be equipped to meet women’s individual needs and personal decisions around childbirth.  HRiC is committed to supporting the efforts of individuals and organizations working all over the world to promote the fundamental human rights of pregnant people.

If you agree, please signal boost. We have 9 days left in our indiegogo fundraiser, and we need so much more support. 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/human-rights-in-childbirth

[thefeministme]

VIA: Miss R•EVOLutionaries

[fuckyeahfeminist]

"The court, I fear, has ventured into a minefield." (via Feministing)

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“[Defendant Midwife] believes and encourages women that they have the right to choose home births without medical interference. It is this personal and arrogant philosophy that is very concerning.”

Legal document from 2012 criminal homicide case against a midwife (via katiohead)

This is why HRIC exists, right here. 

[katiohead]

It’s no longer just about, ‘please give us evidence-based care, and ‘joint decision-making,’ but, ‘We own these bodies, these are our babies, and the provider role is simply, only, to advise and support us on our terms.”

Hermine Hayes-Klein [Only Women Have the Legal Authority to Decide How, Where, and With Whom They Want to Give Birth] (via katiohead)

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I Support Human Rights in Childbirth Because….by Dr. Katharina Hartmann - Human Rights in Childbirth

I support Human Rights in Childbirth because I never again want to have to listen to a first time Mom telling me: “But next time – next time I’ll know better and I’ll not let them do it to me again. This time I didn’t know any better and I didn’t believe those who tried to tell me. I thought: ‘But the care providers are the experts, they know birth and they know so much better what is right and they would surely never do me or my baby any harm?’ ..little did I know about the power of protocols….”

I dream of a world were respect for childbearing women is such that I will never have to bear witness to birth trauma again.

Being a Political Activism Coordinator for HRiC here in Germany and advocating women’s and babies’ rights is the small contribution I can make towards the better world I believe in.

- Dr. Katharina Hartmann

[factsaboutfeminism]