The positive birth company

[Blackandwhitehorse]

I’ve just been made aware of the absurd post from the positive birth company (on Instagram) apparently now being pregnant and giving birth is no longer a ‘women centred’ event. I didn’t see the original comments but they (over 1000 comments) were switched off due to ‘hate’. Although reading comments on the post after they seemed more like reasonable questions.. I’ve only just been made aware of what’s actually been happening with all of this, due to Jess de Whals but now my eyes are open and I can’t believe what has been happening.

Thanks for clarifying boydy99, the names are confusingly similar. That is reassuring about Milli Hill, I have pre ordered her book for girls “My Period” and hoping it is based on fact and a kind of “menstruate like a feminist” positivity and empowerment, completely free of gender woo.

I thought that give birth like a feminist was a great book, full of science and thoughtfully written.

I bought the breast book I think it is by Emma Pickett of the ABM before I knew the term GC or anything about queer theory and was horrified at the trans content in a book aimed at year 6 (11 years old) and up. I was hoping for a factual celebration of breasts to help girls that age feel positive about their changing bodies. The inclusion of dysphoria and mastectomy would seem to sow or water the seeds of bodily discomfort that many girls go through during puberty.

There was a thread earlier in the year, and in 2020 about similar things. I guess it's a fairly recent change. The birthing world has gone loopy for this.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4168599-Positive-Birth-Company

You know, I had highly medicalised births due to an unfortunate tendency of my body to collect uncommon pregnancy complications. But on my first, I started out being part of a midwife-led community team project that aimed to centre the pregnant woman.

Which is how I know from my own experience that that phrase isn't just some wishy-washy happy-clappy nonsense. It has a specific meaning in the context of modern obstetrics.

It's incredibly sad and infuriating to see those who know the reason why birth being women-centred is such an important commitment to the health and wellbeing of the pregnant woman and her unborn throw this all away in the name of inclusivity.

If you no longer use the word woman, you obscure the context within which a woman-centred birth matters in the first place. You lose the gains we made precisely because we emphasised that the woman should cone first and what exactly got in the way of that and how and why that happened. And sex is at the root of all of that. Our female sex.

I just hope this is all just performative social media bluster and not reflected in their work.

I think the only thing the fuckers won't come for is the menopause
I wouldn't even be too sure about that. If (non-existent) periods provide an excuse to eat buckets of ice-cream*, then non-existent hot flushes open up a wide vista of possible behaviours.

*can't remember the blog/blogger, but there was a thread about it here a year or more ago

@merrymouse

I'm really confused.

Is it this company?

courses.thepositivebirthcompany.co.uk/?_ga=2.179051757.875517127.1623765028-495162163.1614178271&gclid=CjwKCAjwieuGBhAsEiwA1Ly_nSl27AnHIdjAdzCyVC_0Pbj1D8LT18kuW3fKZoX1BVRexHVKHsH2hhoC5osQAvD_BwE

They say they are:

"Passionate about empowering women (and birth partners) to create positive birth experiences."

Have they changed their minds?

Looks like they have changed it to “ The Positive Birth Company hypnobirthing program is designed to empower women, birthing people and their birth partners to create positive birth experiences”

I'm a bit disappointed by this - I absolutely loved the hypnobirthing course from them and I always recommend it to expectant mothers. But if they're going to go down the dehumanising pregnant person/ chestfeeding/uterus-haver route then I'll stop.

Have they taken it down? I can’t see it on their insta

My birth was definitely centred on and exclusive to this woman. If I'm honest, that makes me a bit sad. I would have loved to have shared my 16 hours of back-to-back labour with just gas and air (I asked for an epidural but didn't get it) and third degree tearing with DH instead of keeping it all to myself.

Why are so many women complicit in the theft of our womanhood?

@Holidayhomeone it’s this picture

Oh for fucks sake. Birth is not a women centred event. Who centred then is it actually? I don’t even know what they are trying to say

Bother. I paid for one of their courses a couple of months ago. I wish I hadn't now.

@Undersnatch

Oh for fucks sake. Birth is not a women centred event. Who centred then is it actually? I don’t even know what they are trying to say

I'll echo these thoughts.

My SIL gifted me their hypnobirthing course!

I haven’t actually done it yet and was planning to on maternity leave but I won’t be touching it now. And I’ll be telling them exactly why not. I wish she’d not spent her money on it.

Flicking through their website I see they have a new postpartum pack coming this month titled "Feeding workshop including chest feeding for trans and non binary parents". Does this mean they will be encouraging xy parents to 'feed' babies?

To birth s human?

Is baby s bad word now?

Ok well let's look at this.

'We believe that it is our responsibility to use our platform to actively promote inclusion and equality, and one of the ways we do this is through our work as an LGBTQIA+ ally, for those within our village and beyond'

Lesbians having babies are women.

So as it's not a woman centred thing then... Erm.

Gay men are men. If they have s baby then it's through surrogacy. A very contentious topic.

Although the current approach seems increasingly to be that the woman is just a vessel to produce a product, so the not woman centred thing makes sense.

Bisexual people. How does this apply? Depends on whether in a hetero or homosexual relationship and what sex they are.
Not sure how their point applies here either. Same as the first two unless hetero in which case the woman is not at the centre when giving birth.

T. Transmen can have babies obviously. Is this a sizeable chunk of their clientele? Is this a group thing? If so I can't imagine a transman would be keen.

Queer... As above.

Intersex? Yikes. I don't know what proportion of intersex people can carry s baby. Do they? This feels like s really sensitive area tbh.

I don't know what A is.

Asexual?

Have they thought about what the letters mean? And how they can offer relevant support if needed to those groups?

I'm guessing no.

So all they've said is that birth is not womam centric.

Yay!

It's incredibly sad and infuriating to see those who know the reason why birth being women-centred is such an important commitment to the health and wellbeing of the pregnant woman and her unborn throw this all away in the name of inclusivity.

Yes. Only a tiny subsection of ‘LGBTQIA+’ will give birth but have difficulty with the word ‘woman’. However somehow a hypo birthing company has been persuaded to aggressively disassociate itself from the female sex.

This isn’t ‘inclusive’ language. It’s just language that strictly imposes gender on words that should already be inclusive.

For those who've booked courses, I suggest you ask for your money back and tell them why. It's kind of awful that Siobhan Miller used a name so similar to Milli Hill's for the company and has then done this.

Meanwhile, Milli Hill is definitely pro women.

Imagine doing a birth course and being faced with this crap. No thanks.

@theThreeofWeevils

I think the only thing the fuckers won't come for is the menopause I wouldn't even be too sure about that. If (non-existent) periods provide an excuse to eat buckets of ice-cream*, then non-existent hot flushes open up a wide vista of possible behaviours.

*can't remember the blog/blogger, but there was a thread about it here a year or more ago

I think I have read threads on here about menopause webinars and people who couldn’t possible suffer it rocking up.

I used this course

www.natalhypnotherapy.co.uk/

I found it really helpful.

So if they asked every prospective mum (or birth facilitator?) on their books ‘are you a woman?’ how many would say ‘no’ (not ‘do you think the word woman might possibly offend a single person, so we should not use it).

Yeah they I have heard that they want in on the menopause too. Basically women are being sidelined in all our own bodily processes. We mustn’t be centred anywhere.