I ran across this writing on a site called, "Birth Trauma Truths" and wonder what my fellow nurses think and/or feel about it. Me: Mother was Army Cadet RN, put me to work on the county hospital L & D when I was 13 years old. I have now been a Registered Nurse in all areas for over 42 years. Even with precips I always made a point to drape Mom and explain everything everybody was doing. I once solo delivered a babe in the floor of the hallway outside ICU, while a code was going on inside! I had never heard of Birth Rape but apparently it has been around on midwife's sites for quite some time. Weigh in and discuss, discuss.
FROM BIRTH TRAUMA TRUTHS -
A vulnerable woman, who is powerless to leave the situation, is at times held down against her will, has strangers looking & touching at private parts of her body, perhaps without appropriate measures being taken to acknowledge her ownership of her body or to preserve her comfort levels. Perhaps she has fingers or instruments inserted without her consent, and sometimes against her consent, invading and crossing decent boundaries. She is fearful of what is happening to her and perhaps for the wellbeing of her baby, and receives no reassurance that either she or her child are ok. That is a violation, no matter how you look at it. Even IF this treatment is given with no malice and the intent of attempting to assist her with birthing her child, there is NEVER a reason to forgo common decencies that will enable her to maintain a role in the birth, some autonomy over her body, to be involved in the decision-making, to be informed about what they want to do BEFORE they do it.
I've been raped - and if a woman feels violated after her birth experience and feels it appropriate to call it birth rape, that doesn't take anything away from my trauma.
The only real difference I see between the two is the lingering effects of the trauma. I had serious sexual issues after my rape, and sex isn't really something you can easily avoid for the rest of your life. So it's a trauma you have to revisit over and over and over in order to live like a sexually healthy adult. I'm not sure the same applies for a "birth rape", but I've never been in that situation, so I'm not sure what the long term consequences are.
Just as an aside - while rape isn't about sex from the point of view of the attacker, it certainly is from a victim's perspective. At least it was in my case.
You guys do understand that far and away the biggest objection to calling this kind of thing 'rape' is that doing so entails an obstetrician or L&D nurse who acts quickly and forcefully in an emergency is an actual rapist, right? That seems right to anyone?
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
You guys do understand that far and away the biggest objection to calling this kind of thing 'rape' is that doing so entails an obstetrician or L&D nurse who acts quickly and forcefully in an emergency is an actual rapist, right? That seems right to anyone?
My "purpose" in this thread, if you will, is not about changing legal definitions, but rather acknowledging that this type of assault FEELS like rape to many women, and that just because you're the medical care provider and she's in a bed or on an exam table, does not mean you have carte blanche to do what you want, irrespective of a woman's comfort level or what might be happening on the fetal monitor. First and foremost, care providers need to RESPECT THE WOMAN and what she wants/doesn't want, as it pertains to body autonomy.
OB seems to be the last frontier of medicine where paternalism is still very much alive and well.
My "purpose" in this thread, if you will, is not about changing legal definitions, but rather acknowledging that this type of assault FEELS like rape to many women, and that just because you're the medical care provider and she's in a bed or on an exam table, does not mean you have carte blanche to do what you want, irrespective of a woman's comfort level or what might be happening on the fetal monitor. First and foremost, care providers need to RESPECT THE WOMAN and what she wants/doesn't want, as it pertains to body autonomy.
And you're comfortable labeling a practitioner in this scenario a rapist?
I have no problem with anyone saying that this kind of violation 'feels like rape.' You'll also notice that I didn't object to anyone saying that. I object to people saying it IS rape.
OB seems to be the last frontier of medicine where paternalism is still very much alive and well.
Not even close. Try psychiatric medicine, pediatric medicine, or critical care. The fact is there are all kinds of gray situations where either someone's stated preferences are either overridden or a non-compliant, panicky, combative, or badly misinformed patient is coerced into treatment that is necessary for a good outcome. Not all of these situations are ethically justifiable but some of them are. Medical ethics are a hell of a lot more complex than sexual ethics. Were self-determination the only ethical consideration, people who attempt suicide would be left to die, for merely one example. These kinds of situations are not unique to OB, which is why someone like myself who has no intention of working in OB might be concerned to see fellow medical professionals engage in such simplistic ethical thinking.
Why is emergency during childbirth a special situation?
Emergency surgery carries the risk of awareness and recall under anesthesia, and that has never been labeled as "rape". It entails great distress and fear on the part of the patient, and while it is not intended by the caregivers, everyone, including the patient knows (or will know) that the life threatening situation, though regrettable, required action that was scary and uncomfortable.
Life and limb situations are no fun. But the alternative is a lost life or a limb. Why do people insist that women are so weak?
For those suggesting that this isn't rape, the FBI's Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Summary Reporting System (SRS) defines forcible rape as The penetration, no matter how slight, of the lady parts or orifice with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.â€
This is the definition. The problem most people have with the term "birth rape" is the connotation.
And you're comfortable labeling a practitioner in this scenario a rapist?
Exactly. Do you think that a provider should be given the same label as someone who forces sexual intercourse on someone at knifepoint?
So many of these occasions aren't really a true emergency. Checking someone's cervix is very rarely an emergent situation, yet women get checked against their will. Last I checked, shoving your hand into someone's lady parts when they don't want you to is against the law.
As to whether they report it.......who would believe them? Read some of the responses in this thread. And look who gets elected POTUS. Just sayin'.
We better add checking rectal sphincters in the trauma bay...wouldn't want someone to feel raped at the cost of finding a neurologic injury. Just sayin'.
ItsThatJenGirl, CNA
1,978 Posts
I'm not a nurse, just a lowly student.
I've been raped - and if a woman feels violated after her birth experience and feels it appropriate to call it birth rape, that doesn't take anything away from my trauma.
The only real difference I see between the two is the lingering effects of the trauma. I had serious sexual issues after my rape, and sex isn't really something you can easily avoid for the rest of your life. So it's a trauma you have to revisit over and over and over in order to live like a sexually healthy adult. I'm not sure the same applies for a "birth rape", but I've never been in that situation, so I'm not sure what the long term consequences are.
Just as an aside - while rape isn't about sex from the point of view of the attacker, it certainly is from a victim's perspective. At least it was in my case.