Episode 4: The nightmare of childbirth in a patriarchy
Childbirth in the United States has become a life-threatening, harrowing disaster. And even for women who are lucky enough to escape without serious injuries, there are almost always numerous traumas and abuses—whether it’s a partner who completely ignores your postpartum needs or a society that gaslights you into believing your reasonable reaction to an abusive system is a sign of a problem with your hormones.
Zawn and Jeff have extensive professional and personal experience with this issue. With their first baby, they had to navigate a sudden change in hospital policy designed to prevent them from having the natural birth Zawn wanted. Their second baby died at birth, and a postpartum hemorrhage nearly claimed Zawn’s life, too. And with their third, the intersection of trauma and a complicated birth required lots of advocacy in a system that often punishes such behavior.
Zawn runs a small nonprofit devoted to defending the rights of all people who give birth. And as a civil rights attorney specializing in police and prison abuses, Jeff has seen the worst of how our criminal justice system abuses pregnant people.
In this episode, we give a broad overview of the issue, and will discuss other angles in more detail in subsequent episodes. We also give some general tips for advocacy in a broken system.
Readers may find the following links helpful for framing and understanding the discussion: