I want to start by saying that I am trying hard to understand the pronouns and inclusivity of all people across our country and the world right now, sometimes I get it slightly wrong but the whole-hearted truth is that I am sorry if I offend anyone with my lack of pronoun-savvy wording at times. I am trying, I do care about you all, no matter what you identify as.
Birth.
Birth...
Birth?
Birth!
For years and even centuries, birth has been seen as this woman, feminine, lady 'situation' and the argument there could be that it is after all 'women' who give birth and are pregnant and have babies. But is birth only to be cared about, thought about or experienced by females/women?
Obviously not, now with our ever-changing world or at least the societies within the world, ANYONE can give birth. Meaning gender-wise/pronoun-wise/identifying orientation wise. This is amazing and beautiful to see, no matter who is having a baby - it is incredible.
Yet why do we still have this underlying monologue of women handling birth and all that comes with it and the men show up, hold your hand and get a cup of tea at the end of it? I will say that it is a lot less common now as more and more partners/men/companions are becoming excited to be immersed in the land of labour and placentas, but still, at the end of the day when there are so many issues with our maternity services across the country and our birth workers are being trampled on - it is mainly women/mothers who are protesting and demanding better policies, rights, facilities and care for themselves, medical centres and their patients.
This is by no means a 'bash the other sex/gender' post. This is an 'open your eyes, birth is a global issue, every pronoun, every gender/sex, every person issue.' For without birth, where would we be? We wouldn't BE at all.
I suppose my main point here is that it shouldn't be midwives or mothers and females who are making up the majority of the protestors surrounding birth-related issues. We all should be protesting and supporting in every way that we can. I admire the partners, husbands, friends, family members and individuals who have joined in the fight for better care, support and policies for birth workers and thus mothers/birthers/pregnant people. At the same time, it makes me sad to see that so many around us don't feel that birth, maternity services and so on are vital issues or an issue that affects them.
Without birth, you would not be here.
There would be no you.
There would be no us.
There would be no Greggs, no B&M, no Primark and no Winston Churchill.
Because birth is the one thing we all have in common. We are a result of birth - regardless of what 'type' of birth it was, we all came from birth.
So let's reframe, let's stand up and let's do this. This means demanding better for our birth workers, maternity services, mothers, birthers and all those involved in the extraordinary madness that is birth. After all, birth is EVERYONE'S issue, not just females.
