Tuesday, March 16, 2010
military women
At the Trust Birth conference I was deeply moved and terribly saddened to listen to the account of active-duty military women who have no choices in maternity care. I listened to the pain of one woman who, facing criminal charges of disobedience of a direct order, was forced to consent to a cesarean section for no other reason but that her previous child had been born via surgery and the care-provider that had promised her a vbac trial left the hospital 2 weeks before her due date. She spoke in the choked and strangled voice of a rape victim and described her childs "birth" as a sexual violation.
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My nephew is in the Air Force, stationed in Germany. He and I were talking about his plans to marry & start a family with his German gf. My first piece of advice to him: DO NOT have your child in a military hospital. They are willing to forgo getting married to avoid being treated like cattle in a military hospital. It's terrible, but in the military, you really are treated like property, with no rights.
ReplyDeleteIt's so true Sam. At least military wives have the ability to choose, but women in the military belong to the government and so do their bodies :-(
ReplyDeleteThe military wives are subjected to the same attitudes as the soldiers, once they are admitted to the hospital. Trust me, the staff doesn't reserve better treatment for family members. They may be able to fight a little more for rights, but it's still the same crap once they are in the hospital.
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