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- Obstetric violence is the physical, psychological or emotional abuse of pregnant women by medical professionals.
- While it seems to be a prevalent issue in South Africa, many women do not have a platform to share their stories.
- Local organisation Embrace has drafted a survey where South Africans can share their experiences and be counted.
- Take the survey here.
Obstetric violence refers to the abuse of pregnant women by medical staff. This could be physical, emotional or psychological.
While many expectant mothers experience this, their stories are often not shared. Embrace, a social movement that "celebrates motherhood and mothers," wants everyone's voice to be heard.
The organisation has drafted a survey called Count Our Births, where women can share their experiences.
Nonkululeko Mbuli, advocacy and communications strategist, says Embrace wanted to highlight the magnitude of obstetric violence in the country.
"We know that obstetric violence is prevalent, but we wanted to get a clearer sense of the extent and nature of obstetric violence in South Africa," she tells News24.
"Unfortunately, obstetric violence is not routinely measured in country-specific birth data - we tend to measure maternal mortality and morbidity rates. But we at Embrace believe that it isn't just about whether a woman died during pregnancy or childbirth, but essentially, how a woman is made to feel during pregnancy and birth and postpartum, at her most vulnerable, and the serious and long-lasting consequences for her, her child, her family, her community, and for us all as a country."
With the survey, the organisation hopes to "understand how many women in our broader network have experienced obstetric violence, what types of obstetric violence they have experienced, what age they were when they experienced it, and what were the effects of the violence they have experienced on their physical and mental health but also on their motherhood journey."
"We also want to hear from women what they feel could have been done differently to ensure they had a safe and dignified birthing experience," Mbuli adds.
Ending obstetric violence
"Our hope is that this survey will contribute to strengthening state and societal accountability for the health and well-being of South Africa's mothers," says Mbuli.
The results will be used to advocate for "a bigger, nationally representative study in 2024".
Mbuli added:
Where can I take the survey?
Visit the website here to take the birth survey and share it with mothers in your network.
