Here's the video written out for those of you who might have sleeping babes and don't dare turn on the sound!
This is an Open Letter to ACOG on their recent abortion legislation statement. I was intrigued today to discover, albeit a couple of days late, that ACOG, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, released a public statement regarding the abortion issues happening in Texas right now. They also have another statement about a month old now denouncing legislation regarding patient care basically, which included certified midwives which was interesting. I’ll be honest up front: This is not about abortion. I don’t touch that debate in public with a ten-foot pole. I actually thought the statement was quite great from a professional standpoint. Before you jump up all in arms, we need to remember that ACOG is more of a labor union type organization. So they were appropriately trying to stick their necks out for providers in their own professional group who might be in the practice of providing abortions as a part of their well-woman care programs. I get it. What I found interesting was that they used some key phrases and terms that those of us in the natural childbirth and human rights in childbirth communities commonly use when speaking out against some of ACOG’s policies or providers. I found the statement to be very contradictory to their usual stances on issues. It was very double-standard-ish. Like, these statements are okay to use when it protects their physicians but not when we’re talking patients. Of course the first thing to stick out was the title, “Open Letter to Texas Legislators: Get Out of Our Exam Rooms.” Again, I get it. These are your providers that might be losing a chunk of business if the Texas law passes. ACOG wants legislators out of the exam room so their providers can continue to do their thing. It’s their job. But, when and where do we draw the line? Our medical care is so removed from the legal realm there is next to no possibility of recourse against negligent actions beyond filing formal complaints through local medical boards. Thank God for those boards handling these tough situations, but what about times when a fine or even license suspension or removal isn’t enough? What about those times when the providers under your union act in such a negligent or abusive manner that police, lawyers and legislators are warranted? Unfortunately, many of those situations remain unresolved because no one wants to even fathom bringing a doctor into a courtroom. They’re untouchable, didn’t you know! On the same token, while you don’t want legislators in your exam rooms, many of us don’t want legislators or doctors in our homes. Or, frankly. doctors in our vaginas or anything else for that matter unless we specifically consent to that and believe it or not, showing up at an office or hospital does not automatically give that consent and we may revoke it at any point. Many moms refuse to birth in a hospital for many reasons (more often than not the very way your physicians handle their patients and their care is to blame) and those moms have the right to birth at home with qualified providers if they desire. And we’ve been under, as you have called it, “relentless legislative assault on the patient-physician” relationship for quite some time now, too. But I know homebirths would jeopardize some of the business of your physicians, so I understand that you had to send lobbyists on your behalf to California recently *against* the idea of home births, despite scientific evidence stating that planned home births are as safe if not safer than planned hospital births. And even despite your own recent public statement against legislative interference which included certified midwives, therefore inferring that ACOG is working towards a better maternity care system to include home births, which coincides with a lot of the statements I heard at this year’s ACOG conference in New Orleans. Interesting, that you would continue to lobby against homebirths after all that. But I understand your position, because your first and foremost concern is for your physicians rather than the women and families they serve. Even though in this most recent statement against the Texas legislation you state: “…we must draw a hard line against insidious legislation that threatens women’s health…” Wouldn’t you say denying a woman her choice in care providers through legal efforts is actually “insidious legislation that threatens women’s health…?” Interesting. You also state, “Women must have access to all needed health care—from mammograms to prenatal visits to reproductive care—based on scientific facts, not political ideology.” Oh. Yes. I totally agree with this one! Wait… I think I’m confused ACOG. Do you only speak out when your providers are affected? Your organization says: “ACOG advocates for quality care for women.” But do you advocate for that care when women are affected? Or just your providers? Again, I get it. You’re a labor-type group, you need to advocate for your providers. I’m just trying to set the record straight. Because you tout quality care for the women your doctor’s serve and now apparently scientific evidence which is great, yet the very idea of actively managing a childbirth is not evidence based at all and it’s certainly not “quality care.” In fact, it can cause a whole slew of extra problems for the mother and baby they would not have encountered otherwise.(Among a list of other poor protocols lacking scientific evidence) We’ll not even get into the use of Cytotec , the stomach ulcer drug not authorized by any organizations for use in labor, that many of your providers continue to use and have even killed mothers in the even recent past? Which brings me to my next point: Scientific evidence in “quality care.” It’s a proven fact that the majority of our maternity care within the medical model which your providers offer actually is not conceived from scientific evidence. Convenience, Overloaded doctors, Opinions, The need to retain as much business as possible, these are all reasons for the unsound protocols currently in place in our maternity system. Yet, you state in your public statement: “Facts are very important, especially when discussing the health of women and the American public.” *blink blink* You also say this: “The sanctity of the patient-physician relationship is central to good medicine, a critical tenet embraced by ACOG and other medical societies…” But… Okay does this mean the five-ten minute heartbeat sessions we get with our OB/GYNs for prenatals is growing a relationship? Because I think I missed the “growing” part of that. If we could have better access to the midwifery model of care across the country and the world, we would be able to achieve that relationship in our low-risk moms, which is a critical tenet of care for our midwives, too. And our high-risk moms would have a better chance of achieving that relationship with their doctors as they wouldn’t be so overloaded. Frankly, I know you know this from what I’ve heard of your recent conference and seen from your statements. Words are great, but we need actions now. ACOG, as always, I’m dismayed by this recent public statement. Not because it wasn’t good! Not because I didn’t agree with what you had to say, but because it was totally contradictory to how you as an organization and how your physicians have been behaving as of late. Get it together, would ya? ACOG statements referenced: Open Letter to Texas Legislators: Get Out of Our Exam Rooms Legislative Interference with Patient Care, Medical Decisions and the Patient-Physician Relationship
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9/19/2014 03:43:36 am
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AuthorWelcome to Momma Trauma's Blog! Thoughts, empowering posts and stories straight from Momma Trauma herself, Birth Trauma families & birth professionals. Archives
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