Recognise the possible long-term psychological effects of the disempowering of women in childbirth. Know how to assist women who seek help with their overwhelming emotions through active listening, validation of their experience and birth crisis counseling. The woman's experience disappears in the statistical examination of birth. When the woman's experience is lost, unhappiness results. Postpartum depression often results.
Men dismiss the women's unhappiness as a normal part of women's lives - and trivialize the anguish.
It is not the number of obstetrical events that leads to a greater incidence of unhappiness. A short labour doesn't necessarily make the woman happier. Women must feel that they have a right to have their feelings heard, and to be acknowledged. Women often feel violated - and use the language of rape to describe their experience. Sheila's daughter Polly is a rape counselor in Britain.