From May 16 to 22, 2016, the World Week of Respected Birth and Birth is celebrated by the European Network of Childbirth Assotiations (ENCA). This year, under the motto "My decision, my body, my baby" with the intention of empowering women and transmitting that they are the ones they have the power to decide how they want to give birth.
The birth of a child is a unique experience in life, and although you give birth to more than one child, each birth is special and wonderful. All women deserve a respected birth in which they and their babies are the absolute protagonists of the process regardless of where and how, whether they give birth at home, in a specialized center or in the hospital.
In recent decades, the importance of childbirth as a vital process has been lost, sometimes subjecting mothers to unrespected practices of obstetric violence. Unnecessary caesarean sections, episiotomies without justification, caesarean sections with tied hands, separating the baby from the mother and other situations of abuse and disrespect from those that even the WHO has warned.
Disrespectful and offensive treatment during childbirth, as well as violence in childbirth is not only a public health problem, but also of human rights. Every woman has the right to a respected birth.
We all know birth stories that unfortunately have not been how happy they should be. Raising awareness and informing about the respectful practices and rights of women when giving birth will help them to raise their voices to defend their respected birth.
