2012 was supposed to be a year of change.
Philosophers and scientists have said this year will bring about a change in consciousness and a paradigm shift.
I believe the shift has started when it comes to childbirth.
This is a movement that has been brewing over time but 2012 has marked some great strides to changing the face of childbirth.
In 2010 a mother in Hungary won a landmark trial against the country of Hungary at the Supreme Court of the European Union. This ruling declared that women have the right to privacy and the right to choose the circumstances of their births. This was the beginning of talking about childbirth in a new context. Your childbirth choices are you human right.
Film makers from One World Birth started releasing videos in 2011. These videos are interviews with experts in all locations and designations talking about the truth in childbirth.
June began with the Human Rights in Childbirth conference that took place in The Netherlands. The conference invited lawyers, doctors, midwives, anthropologists, sociologists, ethicists, philosophers, doulas, epidemiologists, politicians, students, and mothers and fathers to come together to discuss the rights of women in birth. This conference sparked another push towards recognizing women’s rights in childbirth.
September 20th was a day when thousands of people around the world came together to discuss the issue of human rights in childbirth. This was the day when the film Freedom for Birth was screened in over 1000 locations in over 50 countries around the world. After the film there were discussions about how can we enforce our basic rights in childbirth.
Here is Ottawa, the capital of Canada, we had a long discussion about how can we get our rights upheld here at home. The laws support a women’s right to informed consent, we have access to homebirth and choice of provider in many provinces but our rights and access to the care and acre providers of our choice are not being honored.
A couple weeks later and some deep reflection and brainstorming and idea was presented. Collect women’s stories of violations to their human rights and their legal right to informed consent and push for a government public inquiry.
This spurred more conversation within the large and active birth community here in Ottawa and another mother suggested the Senate Committee on Human Rights as a possible avenue to explore.
November 28 I had lunch with a Senator who sits on the committee to ask how we would go about getting something presented. He agreed to bring it to the Committee on Human Rights as the next topic they should study. This is HUGE. If we can get the committee to say yes and study what is happening to women in childbirth all over Canada we could get our ruling that supports our rights in childbirth. We will have to see how this plays out in 2013 but we have definitely started a movement.
December 6th marked Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women and thanks to the Senators office I was invited to a luncheon at Parliament. Leading up to this luncheon I was inspired to make this video as this really is a form of violence against women.
I had to opportunity to connect with more key people in government including an MP who said she could help this get presented to the House of Commons.
December 10th is International Human Rights Day and I was invited for another luncheon for the Canadian Defenders of Human Rights initiative. I met more key players and we will be pushing forward on changing the face of childbirth in 2013.
December 17th the FREE shortened version of Freedom for Birth was release online. Please watch it and start a movement or join a movement that will help birthing women where you live.
We need to shift our ideas about birth. We need to know that the experiences of birth matter for the life span of that family. We need to give women a voice so they can heal from the abuse that is happening in childbirth. And we need to stop it.
That’s why I am working on getting this public inquiry open about human rights violations in childbirth. It isn’t one doctor or one hospital, it is the entire system of birth.
Here is a great article about the movement. Mother’s Fighting Against Birth Intervention
