Global Perspectives: Maternity Care and Practices in Ethiopia

Abstract

There is an unspoken, unacknowledged routine practice haunting delivery rooms across the world. One that leaves women feeling like failures, ignored and abused. With obstetric violence under the spotlight, it is time now to bring it into the conversation. Fundal pressure, far from any demonstrable good, is doing harm, not only with the potential physical side effects, but with the long-lasting psychological impact of a painful and unnecessary intervention performed often without permission. In the first of a five-part series on Ethiopian maternity care, midwife Indie McDowell explores the practice of fundal pressure, both from a historical perspective, and as experienced today.