I’ve been pregnant since the beginning of the Covid-19 chaos and I’ve realized that this time around is no different than when I was pregnant three years ago with my daughter, yet I’m treated as if the very nature of me being pregnant makes me fragile and treated as if I’m in a state of “sickness” and that I have to live in a bubble or I’ll contract covid.

This is what is inherently wrong with our current healthcare— pregnancy is not a disease and informed pregnant women should be heard.

I chose this image because it illustrates how disturbing medical interventions can be during birth that are unnatural and negatively affect mother and child. For example, Cesarean birth rates are far above 10% of all births, which the WHO recommends. The baby should be immediately placed on the mother’s chest to comfort mother and baby, stimulate oxytocin and milk production, and delayed umbilical cord clamping is recommended to prevent infant anemia. And lastly, look at how they are holding this baby who has just entered into this cold world with little reverence or respect.

The horrifying rate of obstetric violence during pregnancy and childbirth remains largely undocumented or talked about, yet luckily some recent studies are bringing to light this humans rights issue that greatly needs to be researched more and prevented.

Obstetric violence is defined as verbal or physical abuse or disrespect during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period— a particularly vulnerable time for any woman— which unsurprisingly leads to long-term adverse effects for both mother and infant. Moreover, women who are adolescent, unmarried, of low socio-economic status, from ethnic minorities, migrants or living with HIV are at greater risk of suffering disrespectful and abusive treatment (1).