UK women forced to wear face masks during labour charity finds.

[MercyBooth]

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/may/14/uk-women-forced-to-wear-face-masks-during-labour-charity-finds

Fucking barbaric.

I felt utter disbelief reading the stories about women forced to labour wearing masks. Barbaric and inhumane.

It represents a return to the days when women in labour were simply not listened to. When they were put in stirrups and allowed no input into the birth process. Shocking.

I'm due to give birth next week. Here in Spain it's obligatory to wear a mask through the whole process. I can honestly say that's the part that's stressing me out the most (admittedly I've been v lucky with an easy pregnancy). I was crying in the shower yesterday just thinking about it. It's hard enough walking/talking with one on, let alone pushing a baby out... I'm terrified I'm going to refuse, rip it off, be labelled difficult and ruin the whole experience by having the medical team pissed off with me.

@LaMadrilena see my comment above. Be assertive. Tell them you won't be wearing a mask when it inhibits your breathing because that could restrict your oxygen levels and your babies. Tell them you were told to do that by your obstetrician. That should shut them up.

If the medical team are pissed off with you that's their problem. They should be more professional to let that show.

Or stay at home for a homebirth?

I don't want a home birth, and it'd be too late to arrange now anyway. I'm not sure it's a question of being assertive - as far as they're concerned, those are the rules that everyone has to abide by, to protect the health workers (even after a negative test on admission). And normally I'd be all for that, obviously, but in childbirth... just no.

Should all women giving birth not need to wear masks or if it’s a c section would it be expected?

They don’t have to for a c-section either, but some women either don’t mind or have been forced to.

I’ve namechanged as this is obviously very outing but here is me moments after giving birth by c section
I couldn’t see my baby as my glasses were taken off me from being too steamed up
I had such a bad panic attack that I couldn’t speak and I was crying quite heavily.
They asked me if I was ok and said I should be excited to meet my baby.
I couldn’t say anything

@Goldendinoroar That's so sad, and just what I'm worried about.

(And as if you needed telling, your baby is BEAUTIFUL.)

Speaking without experience obviously, but I didn't think I'd mind so much in a c-section, as it doesn't require so much physical effort, which is the part I'm worried about. But the fact that @Goldendinoroar couldn't even kiss her baby immediately afterwards... that's horrible.

You have a gorgeous baby Goldendinoroar

How did.smears come into it? My last one took 30 minutes and was bloody agony. Wearing a mask made zero difference to this as I couldn't tolerate the pain. I genuinely don't see the connection here.

Congrats @Goldendinoroar so sorry you have to wear a mask to greet your baby, that’s crap.

Labour is very different and I have no idea of the actual rules but if you chose to get pregnant and need care in a pandemic then you do so knowing there are restrictions and policies in place to keep staff and other patients safe

You should be utterly ashamed to have written that. I'm embarrassed for you.

You need to address your total all encompassing irrational fear of this virus. You honestly do.

Oh Goldendinoroar that photo makes me want to cry for you. The pain in your eyes What have we become??

Your baby is beautiful.

@housemdwaswrong Because ppl need to do certain breathing techniques to get through the pain. This is true of both smears and labour though the latter is worse.

Im horrified at the experiences detailed here.

@Goldendinoroar your baby is gorgeous

@Mercybooth Really? I've had straightforward smears that have lasted under 5 minutes, which is probably the norm for most, no breathing technique required.

This latest one a breathing technique would have made no difference at all. IMO bollocks to say mask wearing would affect smear uptake. I'll be interested to know when the figures are collated if this has a bearing on it, and I'd bet my next month's salary that it makes no difference. Breathing techniques for smears, for most, equates to holding your breath and waiting for it to be over. If I had needed to breathe deeply for the 2 minutes the speculum was inside, I'm pretty sure I could have managed it with a mask on.

Well i find them INCREDIBLY painful and have not had one since 2014

Is your post there an example of the "community" rhetoric ive seen bandied about on this board...................oh no my bad "community" and caring about what others go through only counts when its Covid. @OnTheBrink1 has stated on here that shes 18 months late with hers because she cant do it with a mask on. I think the posters who said the midwives should have been provided with the proper grade PPE are spot on. That would have been the solution.

Incidentally several weeks ago i thought id found a lump in my breast while i was in the bath. The strange thing is i didnt feel scared. I felt peace. And my first thought was to keep it a secret. Because right now quite frankly , after seeing the attitudes of the last 15 months living scares me way WAY more than dying does.

I cant feel anything now and i was on my period at the time so i was probably a bit lumpy due to that.

I gave birth 12 months ago, EMCS and had the mask on throughout. I wasn't really aware of what the guidance was and thought I had to keep it on at the time. I took it off at one point during the surgery and the surgeon put it back on saying it was 'to protect you.' I can't imagine what it would have been like to have a regular vaginal Labour while wearing one

@LaMadrilena

I'm due to give birth next week. Here in Spain it's obligatory to wear a mask through the whole process. I can honestly say that's the part that's stressing me out the most (admittedly I've been v lucky with an easy pregnancy). I was crying in the shower yesterday just thinking about it. It's hard enough walking/talking with one on, let alone pushing a baby out... I'm terrified I'm going to refuse, rip it off, be labelled difficult and ruin the whole experience by having the medical team pissed off with me.

Out of interest, what do they do if you refuse? During my labour I was retching and gagging and would 100% have been sick had they not given me anti-sickness medication (and this was before I had any gas and air so wasn’t related to that). Are they forcing masks back on to vomiting women in Spain? Or women having panic attacks due to masks? Or do you think that, while it’s technically guidance, there’s flexibility and staff are allowed some discretion?

@kfleming I've honestly no idea. Apparently gas and air is an option if you test negative, so obviously you have to take it off for that. I like to think that there'll be some discretion applied. Guess I'll find out in a few days...

Honestly, the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. It's fine to take masks off to sit and have a beer, and needing to smoke as you walk along the street is a good enough excuse (masks obligatory in public spaces here), but I have to wear one to push a baby out???

I've often thought about women going through birth and pregnancy during the pandemic and how awful it must be to be made to wear a mask and not have your partner there as much as possible.

Reading this thread is heartbreaking, I cannot believe the insanity in making women wear masks in these situations.

I had a horrible labour (years ago now) and wished I'd spoken out at the time but it's hard when you are so vulnerable.

Is any organisation collecting information on this? It should be exposed but like I said, I know how hard it is to talk about after having a traumatic experience.

RE smears @MercyBooth - similar experience; not childbirth but I had to undergo tests in hospital in August that involved two catheters into my bladder, another into vagina another into rectum - bladder filled up to maximum capacity (so in severe pain by this point) and then had to pee with catheters in place with three nurses watching (urodynamics) . Which erm, involved straining to go as I couldn’t relax ... in the end took thirty minutes ...

All with a surgical mask on — and no bloody curtain or blanket either, because of covid, thankfully in an empty ward as anyone could have walked past - as it was the cleaner did twice - they said couldn’t have a curtain as ward needed to be well ventilated .

Ended up passing out onto the floor and at that point the nurses said I could take the mask off to get a breath - bit late by then ... absolutely awful . I’m still not sure why I couldn’t just do a PCR and isolate at home first - in the end one of the nurses gave me a hug in the toilet after so she can’t have been that concerned !

I can’t even imagine trying to birth a human with a mask on; it must be absolutely horrendous

There are some really sad stories on this thread.

I found this story about giving birth in Spain. www.reuters.com/article/spain-women-health-idUKL8N2HV3MS It is really upsetting and sounds like masks is symptomatic of a wider issue around consent and negligent care, partly due to covid.

This woman was subjected to a c-section without her consent and her baby was removed from her at birth for 7 days because she tested positive for covid, albeit she had completed a 14 day isolation so was unlikely to be infectious. She wasn't allowed to breastfeed or skin to skin contact. Sounds like she sued and won at least. I think the medical staff should be prosecuted for whatever the Spanish equivalent of GBH is. It is depressing that all progress on maternity rights goes out the window the minute there is an excuse to disregard them.

I gave birth at the start of the first lockdown last March. I found it quite traumatic (though nothing like as bad as giving birth with a mask on) because I had a severe bleed at the start of labour and was left alone in a room for hours before I went into active labour - husband wasn't allowed in and my midwife was just getting used to PPE and said she didn't want to come into the room too much as she would have to change it. There was also a bit of an emergency at the end and midwives took ages to get there due to needing to change PPE - when they did get there they got the baby out very fast so I have often wondered if baby came to any harm in the time I was waiting. I vomited a lot during labour too usually without any warning and no way could I have worn a mask or if I had I would have vomited into it several times. I think I would have preferred take my chances in the hospital car park.

“ Is any organisation collecting information on this? It should be exposed but like I said, I know how hard it is to talk about after having a traumatic experience.”

The organisation Pregnant Then Screwed I think did the survey that came out with the finding linked to in the OP - I think it was in conjunction with the organisation Birthrights. Pregnant Then Screwed I believe were also behind the push for the bubble for those with babies under 1yo.