Learning from obstetric violence in UK births at home: reaffirming and challenging current understanding of abuse during the maternity period

Abstract

Current understanding and conceptualisations of obstetric violence typically focus on abuse carried out on pregnant women during births in medical facilities. However, data from an empirical study of freebirthing in the UK (intentionally giving birth without health care professionals present) inadvertently exposed examples of obstetric violence during births at home. This is an under-researched area and such empirical examples are rare. The article introduces the literature on obstetric violence, highlighting some of its limitations with regards to understanding the phenomenon within the home setting. Using archival examples, it also demonstrates how obstetric violence in the home is not a new phenomenon, thus problematising any presumption that this type of violence is rooted in the hospital as institution. Further, data from The Freebirth Study both reaffirms and challenges current understanding of obstetric violence, particularly around consent, the temporal nature of the abuse and the ways it can manifest. Finally, with recent moves towards legislating against obstetric violence, the article argues for legislative change to recognise abuse in the home.