Giving birth to twins is an undertaking. During the pushing phase of my labour, I was in an all fours position the OB was obviously not used to or overly comfortable with. I kept being reminded that they were doing their best to respect my birth choices. At the same time, however, the OB kept sliding two fingers into my vagina. There was no reason to do this except for his being uncomfortable with my birthing position and checking to see if there was a clear path for baby 1 to come out of. Everyone already knew I was fully dilated. I kept feeling fingers go inside my vagina before I was even ready to push. I loudly said ‘Can you stop putting your fingers inside me?’ As I couldn’t understand the purpose for this at the moment it was happening. I was not heard and it kept happening several more times. It really felt like once you are on the birthing table, the entirety of your reproductive system is controlled by the birth worker and your wishes and demands are not respected no matter how loudly you may be stating them. When I was then having blood clots removed from my uterus, I was in extreme pain and not under medication. I yelled to pause, to please stop and have a break before the necessary removal continued but the Ob kept rushing through the procedure and scooping out clots without giving me at least a 5 second break. I understood the importance and urgency of the procedure but was shocked that my body was treated the way it was, lack of consent was ignored and I felt like I was being punished for choosing to birth without pain medication. I was lucky my midwife was there to ease the stress of the whole experience.
Submitted anonymously
