Premiere screening of Freedom for Birth – Rio Cinema, Dalston
Birthrights is co-hosting a free screening of this exciting new documentary about human rights in childbirth. It will be held at the Rio Cinema, Dalston, at 6.15pm on 20 September 2012. You can see a...
View ArticleBirthrights in the Observer!
Birthrights front and centre in this Observer feature about human rights in childbirth. Birthrights founder, Elizabeth Prochaska, quoted.
View ArticleBirthrights on Woman’s Hour!
Birthrights featured on Woman’s Hour today discussing respecting women’s choices in childbirth. Elizabeth Prochaska, Birthrights founder and board member, was interviewed by Jenny Garvey with Daghni...
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US research reveals widespread mistreatment of pregnant women
A study just published in the USA finds horrifying mistreatment of pregnant women based on misguided application of ‘pro-life’ laws. The groundbreaking research reveals how attempts to create a...
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Do I have a right to choose a cesarean section?
This is the first article in a series responding to questions Birthrights receives from women and healthcare professionals. If you have a question you’d like answered, please get in touch. Birthrights...
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‘Captured womb': feminism, childbirth and motherhood
Deborah Talbot explores the relationship between birthing experiences and the transition to motherhood. Ann Oakley wrote in her seminal work on childbirth and motherhood, Women Confined, that ‘the...
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Obstetric violence in Brazil
This week a court in Brazil authorised the forcible removal of a woman from her home and the performance of a cesarean section against her will. You can read the Brazilian news reports here, translated...
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Home v hospital – the debate continues with publication of NICE consultation
Here we are again: home versus hospital versus midwifery led unit. Which place is ‘safer’, which mothers are putting their babies ‘at risk’ and so on and on. The place of birth debate is back in the...
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Consent and student medics – European Court ruling
The European Court of Human Rights gave judgment last week in Konovalova v Russia. It’s an important decision for maternity rights across Europe, which emphasises the need for women’s informed consent...
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Dubska v Czech Republic: A blow to women’s reproductive rights in Europe
The European Court of Human Rights gave judgment in Dubská v Czech Republic last week. The Court found that Czech legislation prohibiting midwives attendance at home births did not interfere with...
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The Times gets it wrong: midwifery is safe and women’s birth decisions are...
A journalist called me recently asking for a quote for a story he was writing about maternity care. He told me that he was going to expose the dangers of giving birth in midwifery-led units where, he...
View ArticleRapid Resolution and Redress scheme – consultation now open
A Rapid Resolution and Redress scheme was one of the key recommendations coming out of the Better Births report. This month the Department of Health has launched a consultation on this proposal....
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Do I have a right to a c-section? Update on Oxford University Hospitals
On 24th May we launched a campaign to engage with Trusts who state that they do not offer maternal request caesarean sections, thereby denying women the individual respect and consideration they are...
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How should Health Care Professionals handle a maternal request for caesarean?
It‘s been unusually noisy in the maternity world over the summer, as media reports have reignited discussion about what a “safe” birth looks like. At Birthrights we believe that the need to listen to...
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IDECIDE – a new consent tool is on its way…
You may have heard talk of IDECIDE – a new tool to help healthcare professionals to support women to make informed decisions in labour. In this blog we explain what IDECIDE is, where it came from, and...
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Birthrights response to the Ockenden report
Much proverbial ink has been spent this week responding to the first report from the Ockenden review into maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust. Finding something new to say to...
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Ockenden review: Birthrights’ response
Nobody expected the Ockenden report published last week to be an easy read. However the breadth and pervasiveness of the issues at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust over such a prolonged...
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‘I remember looking at my partner and saying, “I’m going to be a Black...
Birthrights releases report of findings from year-long inquiry into racial injustice in maternity care Download the report The safety of hundreds of women and birthing people from Black and Brown and...
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