That Infamous Birth Hating Sign

I know I am very slow to get to this and readers have most likely already come across the above photo on one of the many quality birth blogs inhabiting cyberspace. So, in short: an Obstetrician's office featured the above sign stating that doulas and birth plans are not allowed in his (or her) establishment. Obviously this is an issue of control. This obstetrician doesn't even want to let his (or her) patients get any funny ideas about who is in charge at birth. Birthing woman = passive recipient of whatever the Ob deems necessary. Don't bother wasting your time on a birth plan or bringing along someone to support you in being an active participant!

It's sickening to think that so-called care providers can be so blatantly anti-birth and anti-woman. But at the same time, at least this guy (or gal) is up-front about their hatred. I daresay there are thousands of Obs who feel the same but they humour their patients: "suuure, you can try for a VBAC..." (the ellipses contains the unspoken "but you 'aint gonna get it if I have anything to do with it!").

To see what others have had to say about the sign you can check out the following links:

Dou-La-La
Instinctual Birth

Organic Birth
Radical Doula
The Unnecsarean
Wonderfully Made Bellies & Babies

Jill at The Unnecesarean has taken critique of the sign to a whole new level and given us all a much needed laugh at the issue by running a photoshop competition. Some entries are already up and are well worth a look (her own entry is my favourite). The competition is still on so head over there and participate:

http://www.theunnecesarean.com/blog/2009/11/4/photoshop-contest-the-anti-doula-sign-in-the-utah-obstetrici.html

And here are some of my own re-interpretations of the sign:

And BTW how freakin' '80s is the clock they got in that obs office?!
Time to redecorate Aspen Women's Centre!