Lifelong Significance of Disempowering Experiences in Prenatal and Maternity Care

Abstract

In this article I show how the effects of harsh and humiliating treatment, experienced by a number of Swedish women in antenatal care and childbirth in the mid-20th Century, endured for the rest of their lives. This treatment was carried out by medical staff in conformity with a view of expectant mothers as irresponsible and ignorant and with the prevalent idea of “natural birth.” These effects were findings in an interview investigation that, with a colleague, I conducted into paid and unpaid work and health of 20 women, seen in a lifetime perspective. Our biomedical way of understanding risks and complications during pregnancy and birthing was confronted with many participants’ feelings of distress, guilt, and grief linked to their childbearing experience. I interpret the treatments as “violations of dignity” and as abuse. The consequences are similar to those following traumatic birth experiences described in today’s literature.