Homebirth midwives shed accountability like water off a duck’s back.
Preside over a homebirth death and other midwives will promptly hold a rally for you without ever even bothering to investigate whether you handled the case properly.
Spew utter lies about research that shows an increased risk of death at homebirth and other midwives link to your lies.
Collect data on 28,000+ homebirths and find out that homebirth dramatically increases the risk of perinatal death, and just hide the data. Other homebirth advocates won’t mind.
But this latest technique for avoiding accountability is a new low.
I’m referring to Better Birth of Utah that had this to say in response to a client lawsuit alleging malpractice:
On a couple of occasions, we have discovered too late that a client is mentally ill, and her illness did not allow her to accurately perceive the events of labor…
That’s right. The folks at Better Birth have resurrected the classic sexist trope flung at women for millenia: don’t listen to that woman who is complaining; she’s crazy!
How many women, both poor and deprived or even rich and privileged have been “put away” into asylums because they dared question authority, whether that was the “authority” of their husbands, the Church or the State? Imputing mental illness to women who raise uncomfortable issues or make inconvenient accusations is one of the oldest sexist gambits in the book.
The folks at Better Birth claim that they are committed to accountability:
Our goal is to give every client the very best birth possible. Because we’re human, we don’t always succeed in that goal. When we have fallen short we are incredibly grateful to those clients who have given us the gift of negative feedback. Over the years we have used that precious information to change and improve our practice, our systems, and our facilities. As long as we exist we expect to continue that process and get better and better at serving our clients.
Really? They have a funny way of showing it.
At least they get points for full disclosure. Anyone contemplating choosing Better Birth can’t say they haven’t been warned. If you have a bad outcome or question their care, they will publicly label you as mentally ill.
It’s difficult to imagine anything more immoral or unethical.
