2023-08-03 14:56:00
Today, the Citizen Platform for a Respected Birth (collective of users) is launching the “first formation” on obstetrical violence for health professionals. It should be noted that the famous report of recommendations reported to the Senate advised among other things – among its 92 recommendations – to look into training.
From the end of August, gynecologists, midwives, anesthesiologists, etc. will be able to train in order to “understand and identify the acts or situations that may be experienced as violence by patients in the context of perinatal care”.
Spend time on it
An eminently taboo subject, gynecological and obstetrical violence (episiotomy or non-consensual vaginal examination, refusal of painkillers, verbal aggression during childbirth, etc.) concerns 40% of women who have given birth in French-speaking Belgium, according to a survey published in 2021 by the collective.
“It’s not about blaming caregivers – in the majority of cases there is no intention to hurt – but about finding solutions collectively”, indicates the Citizen Platform. The training was also designed in collaboration with health professionals.
An unprecedented training, according to the association: “If we are already talking about obstetrical violence in the faculties, there are inequalities between faculties, points out Michèle Warnimont, member of the Platform. And then, the medical programs are so tight… There is an opportunity here to devote time to this subject.
The training contains a first 7-hour e-learning module (videos, podcasts, exercises, etc.). “Obstetrical violence is defined, we go back over the history, on what other countries have put in place, we recall the law on patients’ rights and consent. There are testimonials from patients, to understand the damage it can cause”explains Michèle Warnimont, also a midwife who wants to speak out for women.
Prevent
Two days are also planned in Namur. “Participants can bring up problematic situations they have faced. Innovative teaching methods have been developed: action theatre, escape game,…”
The idea of the training – which costs 200 euros – is to allow caregivers to “take a critical look at their own practice but also at the care environment in which they work (high frequency, etc.) and which impacts the experience of women”. The aim is to equip professionals and ultimately to prevent obstetrical violence.
Public support
The training already counts more than 30 registered. It could accommodate about fifty. “Some come from Brussels. There are midwives, gynecologists, neonatologists, an anesthetist… The concern with voluntary training is that it is the most convinced who sign up”, notes Michele Warnimont.
Recognized as continuing training, and intended to be repeated, the training received for its implementation the support of the Walloon Region, the Brussels Region and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, to the tune of approximately 100,000 euros. “There is a political awareness. And it is important to move the lines. 10 years ago, we would not have spoken of such training. Things are moving, of course, but the subject is still fractured.
And to come back to the referral to the Commission, at the end of June, of the report of recommendations on obstetric violence in the Senate.
“At first, we had a bad experience, reacts Michèle Warnimont. Especially when reading the letter from Flemish gynecologists, where certain passages are real slaps in the face for users. Reading that if some women experience childbirth as a trauma, it is because they are psychologically unstable, is hard. This also shows that medical lobbying remains ultra-powerful. Now, we have to move forward and succeed. In the end, this postponement of the text made it possible to talk about it more. And you have to use that!”
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