Let Us Not Ignore Women’s Concerns and Wishes from Developing Countries

Abstract

The study by Yam et al is ostensibly about the feasibility of implementing birth plans for Mexican women. It is also and more importantly about providing a birth experience for women that endorses the value and benefits of considering pregnant women as much more than simply a body with a fetus or a newborn. It is remarkable that decades after calls were and still are being made for a more humane and holistic approach to maternity and newborn care we are still struggling to operationalize these concepts. It appears that health professionals in the setting studied are just as ignorant as the Mexican women themselves of womens abilities and rights to express their preferences for birth. To some extent the enormity of this omission is disguised by the (albeit inappropriate) implication that this is excused by the womens low socioeconomic background. In fact as these women are disadvantaged economically and socially it behooves health care practitioners to go to even greater lengths to safeguard their interests compared with the care provided for women with more resources. Yet this is clearly not in evidence. (excerpt)