RE: [ozmidwifery] another horror story

[Heartlogic]

Rhonda said:   "But - Oh the power play and the woman feels so unable to refuse these things.  The Obstetric dominance can bend a woman into doing things that she woudl not otherswise do.  I don't think we can judge her for that."   Very true. Have you never done anything that you would rather not do, but the power dynamics led you to do otherwise?  I can name thousands of times for me.  I'm learning though. I'm learning to counter the default position of blind obedience to authority. To choose what I want instead of what others think is best. We are socialised into compliance. We are compliant even when we have ethical problems with what we are asked to do. Milgram and Zimbardo's work showed that clearly.  How could she roll over? or sit up and sit still?  How could she not?  Unless she was fantastically liberated and in her own power.  And how many birthing women can do that? At a time of exquisite vulnerability and surrender. (This is where we need the wild nature to rise up!)   And to add to the story:   A study involving 242 nulliparous pregnant women by Fisher, Smith and Astbury in 1995 found the likelihood of women experiencing operative delivery and caesarian section was:   �increased further among those who in late pregnancy were thinking clearly, had high self-esteem, mature means of dealing with anxiety, were confident in their knowledge of childbirth procedures and in secure partnerships with highly educated men. There was no evidence that either elevated anxiety or abnormalities of personality contributed to obstetric outcome. These findings indicate that obstetric decision-making is significantly influenced by patient personality and socioeconomic circumstances. In particular, they suggest that fear of malpractice litigation, physician convenience factors and the response of obstetricians to assured, well pregnancy-educated pregnant women may be influencing the use of operative intervention in delivery.�   The response of obstetricians to assured, well, educated pregnant women in this study has chilling parallels to the findings from the investigation into gender and school education (Collins, C., Batten, M., Ainley, J. & Getty, C. 1996).  The researchers concluded that sex based harassment seems to be part of a process of �establishing dominance relations� among males as well as putting girls as a group �in their place� in a gender system.   so it is about raising awareness of the power of socialisation; challenging one's own behaviours, seeking to become strong and powerful on an internal level that will stop us rolling over.   In solidarity (thanks Justine)   warmly, Carolyn