Women's Equality Party

www.womensequality.org.uk/jobs?utm_campaign=workwithus_1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=womensequality

They are looking for a strategist. Anyone interested?

And I would much rather be on a ward. Being in a single room is lonely, unless you have a lot of visitors.

In other types of wards, sometimes partners or relatives are allowed to stay overnight in exceptional circumstances. That is fine because it means there is never more than 1 extra person on the ward. But allowing partners to stay over could mean a lot of extra men on the ward all night.

Scarf, partners are typically allowed on the wards 12h/day and other visitors 2-4h per day

I had a lot of support from the other women when I was on a ward. It was lovely to share our experiences, highs and lows.
I helped 2 of them latch their babies pretty much consistently.

For women who are isolated the ward is a positive.

I haven't read twt yet, just wanted to jump in before I lose my thoughts. I saw CM, patronised a young working class girl at the first WEP Youth meeting. The girl found out about the meeting, made her way there and had the guts to stand up in front of everyone. She explained she wasn't highly educated and asked for help for a situation she felt was holding working class women and girls back. She offered a solution and was told to organise it herself. It was clear the WEP were not interested in hearing from working class women what their actual barriers are.

Ah, I think most MNers are fine with men in en suite private rooms as they aren't using the facilities of patients or potentially making patients feel uncomfortable by their male presence in a female ward.

Yes that's what frustrates me OneMore - it's so easy to skew the results by neglecting to mention the outcome of having your DP/DH with you.

Would you like to have your DP stay with you after you've given birth?
Oh yes please

Would you like to try to sleep with 12 people in a room designed for 6?
Probably not

Would you like to try to establish breast feeding when you're constantly surrounded by 5 non-patient strangers?
Not really

Would you feel comfortable discussing intimate medical details with a doctor with a strange non-patient man three inches away on the other side of a curtain?
I doubt it

Would you be comfortable walking across the ward to the toilet whilst bleeding at 3am, in an immodest hospital gown to find you had to wait because somebody's DH is already using the toilet?
Uh no, thanks

If you were in a situation where your DP couldn't stay, either due to requiring childcare or not having a DP, would you be comfortable sleeping with 5 non-patient men in the room?
Definitely not

Of course these subtleties don't come out using the first survey question. And that's assuming that these men are decent people that happen to make a woman feel uncomfortable just by their presence at a vulnerable time, but I think there are enough horror stories on MN to know that some men are vile, or even just ignorant to the importance of privacy.

Look at TheXXed's post - probably a completely nice guy who didn't realise the implication of his actions but 100% unacceptable behaviour which would never be accepted on any other ward in a hospital, but in maternity there seems to be a substandard expectation of care which women just have to put up with. It feels like misogyny to me.

I wonder how different the survey results would be among women before and after giving birth, and also women who have done it recently with the current level of care and those who did it 40 years ago.

Yy fanny. It's not even mentioned.. Eg"We want this but we will do that to protect privacy..."

Its not about people jettisoning WEP because it doesn't exactly meet their specifications. Its the fact that a party with policies involving forcing vulnerable women to be at close quarter with people who have penises, with no mention of these women's safety let alone wishes, is not a help to us. These issues are so fundamental that they simply don't deserve support if they insist on taking these, fundamentally male centric, positions. Its not ok to dismiss concerns like this is some Peoples Front of Judea situation.

Scarf, your DH has stated overnight?

I think it would depend on how the survey was phrased. "Would you like 7 strange men staying overnight on the post natal ward with you?" For example...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2515251-To-think-the-WEP-should-not-be-campaigning-for-men-to-be-allowed-to-stay-overnight-on-postnatal-wards

Scarf there's a long thread somewhere else with a bit of a poll - hang on...

No, both sides don't have reasonable arguments NeedaScarf. Everyone would like a friend or relative to stay over when they're in hospital - it's boring, lonely and sometimes scary. But as adults, we accept we're in hospital for medical treatment and that random healthy people just get in the way of the healthcare professionals. There's a whole other thread which goes into the arguments in great detail which is worth a read.

Back to the OP - I'm really disappointed by the way that WEP have handled challenges by MN. And really disappointed by the policies underpinning their six objectives (which I'm fundamentally in agreement with). I'm a founding member but don't really feel that engaged. I agree wholeheartedly with Buffy's post too

The WEP aren't thinking about the logistics of splitting up wards. The policy isn't based on women's choice/preference, but on men being centred in maternity care.

Keep you in the delivery suite longer, or try and get you to labour at home longer if you aren't already in hospital.

Practically speaking, that would be really difficult if a woman who didn't want partners around came in and the "partner free" side was full.