Eliot North: Shame, Denial and Reproductive Trauma: the conversations we need to have, and don’t
Selected Excerpts
"If a woman in my position — a white, straight, cisgender, non-disabled, middle-class doctor living between Spain and the UK struggled to be heard — what hope do women without these privileges have to access safe and confidential care? To have choice and control over their own bodies? To be heard above the clamour?"
"I’d only been a few weeks in Spain, yet I was told by one healthcare professional I really should learn Spanish if I was living here. There was no compassion in this statement. No acknowledgement of my fear and emotional distress, or the barrier this represented to communicating in a foreign language."
Discussion Questions
Reading ‘Shame, Denial and Reproductive Trauma’ do you agree with the author that the subject of women’s reproductive trauma is often silenced? If so, why do you think that is?
What experiences have you had that made you feel powerless or vulnerable as a patient, especially if you were a healthcare provider who ended up in the patient’s seat? Were there other instances where your healthcare provider made you feel heard? What was the difference?
Would you recommend poetry, essays, novels, or any kind of literature to your patients, colleagues, students (or friends and family) as a way to open up discussions about reproductive trauma? In doing this, what should you be mindful of?
Reflections from #MedHumChat
“I absolutely do believe that people who experience reproductive trauma (& medical trauma in general) are silenced & shamed about it. Part of may be because of medicine's reluctance to admit our role in causing that trauma & check the biases that contribute to it”—@DianaCejasMD
“In the context of pregnancy loss, I've felt I was disappointing my provider, by not producing enough eggs in an IVF cycle, or not being able to miscarry on my own. It was so hard not to feel responsible for this process I had thought I could control. Being told explicitly “it’s not your fault” or "there's nothing you could have done" was very important in dealing with these losses”—@bioethicsjosie
“Knowing that one isn’t alone in reproductive trauma/feelings of hopelessness, sadness, & confusion is important and that can be realized by reading others’ written works about their own experiences. Important to remember that each patient’s experience is unique!”—@natashaabadilla
About this #MedHumChat
“Shame, Denial and Reproductive Trauma: the conversations we need to have, and don’t” was paired with “An Aviary of Small Birds,” a poem by Karen McCarthy Woolf for a #MedHumChat discussion September 4, 2019 exploring Reproductive Trauma: Ending the Silence.
We were honored to be joined by special guest Josephine Johnston (@bioethicsjosie). Ms. Johnston is an expert on the ethical, legal, and policy implications of biomedical technologies, particularly as used in human reproduction, psychiatry, genetics, and neuroscience. In addition to numerous scholarly publications, her commentaries have appeared in Stat News, The New Republic, Time, Washington Post, and The Scientist.
The pieces for this chat, along with the discussion questions, were selected by Eliot North.
About the Author
Dr. Eliot North (@eliot_north) is a general practitioner and author who, in addition running her clinical practice, facilitates reflective practice workshops as part of her mission to support self-care, well-being and compassion within the NHS for all healthcare staff, students, carers and service users. You can learn more about her here.