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Join HRiC’s Key Stakeholder Advisory Group

HRiC is forming a global network of lawyers, researchers and advocates dedicated to improving maternity care - everywhere. Join us! Human Rights in Childbirth (HRiC) is developing a new strategy to inform our advocacy and strategic direction over the next three...

Terms of Reference: Key Stakeholder Advisory Group (KSAG)

Human Rights in Childbirth (HRiC) is developing a new strategy to inform our advocacy and strategic direction over the next three years. Our goal is to develop a sustainable network of key stakeholders in order to make full use of, and build on, our collective skills...

Forced Sterilisation during Caesarean and Informed Consent – the case of I.V. vs Bolivia

I.V. vs. Bolivia was the first time the Inter-American Court of Human Rights analysed the foundations of the right to informed consent.

Shared Decision Making in Maternity Care

In this article HRiC outlines its opinion on shared decision making and how it relates to human rights, specifically in maternity care.

Report on Rights Violations in Maternity Care During COVID-19

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, HRiC has been collecting reports of disproportionate human rights violations in maternity care. The first set of rights violations have been published in a report (available below) and sent to the United Nations. , The...

Contribute to our Second Report on Violations in Maternity Care during COVID-19

Help us document what is happening taken in maternity care services in your country - send us a submission by Friday, 10 July 2020.The COVID pandemic is having an enormous impact on maternity care around the world. Minute by minute, day by day, practices and norms are...

HRiC informs European Parliament Action on Maternity Care during COVID-19

HRiC has been working with a Member of European Parliament to bring light to some of the problems women throughout Europe and the world are facing in maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Report Rights Violations during COVID-19

Help us document what is happening taken in maternity care services in your country - send us a submission by Friday, 24 April.The COVID pandemic is having an enormous impact on maternity care around the world. Minute by minute, day by day, practices and norms are...

Midwifing Us Through the Epidemic

Now is the time to press our governments and policy makers to support midwifery care in communities as part of policies to address climate change or Green New Deals that are being prepared around the world – to make sure we are well-prepared for the next emergency or pandemic. We ignore midwifery models of care, essential midwifery skills, community and home birth at our peril – future generations will depend on them as part of crisis response.

Communications Volunteer Position

HRiC is seeking a communications volunteer – apply by 30 April 2019!

Hague Conference – Panel Participants and Overview

The First Human Rights in Childbirth Conference consisted of four panels over two days.

PANEL 1: TERNOVSZKY V. HUNGARY: CONTEXT AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE ECHR DECISION


Moderator: Barbara Katz Rothman, sociologist, USA
Anna Ternovszky, mother, Hungary
Stefania Kapronczay, human rights attorney, Hungary
Istvan Marton, obstetrician-gynecologist, Hungary
Imre Szebik, bioethicist, Hungary
Elizabeth Prochaska, human rights attorney, UK
Karen Guilliland, midwife, New Zealand

 

 

PANEL 2: SAFETY, RISK, COSTS & BENEFITS: WEIGHING CHOICES IN CHILDBIRTH


Moderator: Robbie Davis-Floyd, anthropologist, USA
Peter Brocklehurst, doctor, perinatal epidemiologist, UK
Soo Downe, midwifery professor, UK
Elitsa Golab, civil rights attorney, USA
Helene Vadeboncouer, public health researcher, Canada
Jennie Joseph, midwife, USA
Jo Murphy-Lawless, sociologist and historian, Ireland
Marieke de Haas-van Bommel, anesthesiologist and mother, the Netherlands

 

 

PANEL 3: THE RIGHTS OF THE BABY


Moderator: Anna Verwaal, nurse, doula and photographer, USA
Farah Diaz-Tello, civil rights attorney, USA
Susan Bewley, obstetrician-gynecologist, UK
Noam Zohar, ethicist, Israel
Roanna Rosewood, mother, USA
Barbara Harper, nurse, midwife, USA
Michel Odent, obstetrician, France
Anna Verwaal (film)

 

 

PANEL 4: COLLABORATION, COMPETITION, MONEY & MONOPOLY


Moderator: Ina May Gaskin, midwife, USA
Barbara Hewson, human rights attorney, UK
Marlies Eggermont, lawyer and midwife, Belgium
Becky Reed, midwife, UK
Amali Lokugamage, obstetrician-gynecologist, UK
Elke Heckel, midwife, UK
Debra Pascali-Bonaro, doula, USA
Jill Arnold, mother and consumer advocate, USA

 

 

PANEL 5: PERINATAL MORTALITY IN THE NETHERLANDS: FACTS, MYTHS, AND POLICY


Moderator: Raymond De Vries, Sociologist and Professor of Midwifery Science, USA and Netherlands
Hein Bruinse, Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Netherlands
Anna Myrte Korteweg, Mother and Author, Netherlands
Elselijn Kingma, Professor of Philosophy and Medical Ethics, UK and Netherlands
Manon Benders, Pediatrician-Neonatologist, Netherlands
Ank de Jonge, Midwife and Researcher, Netherlands
Mariel Croon, Journalist and Midwife, Netherlands

 

 

PANEL 6: CASES ON THE EDGE: CONTROVERSIAL BIRTH CHOICES IN THE NETHERLANDS


Moderator: Sandra Bruin, Mother, Netherlands
Monique Severijns, Mother, Netherlands
Arie Franx, Gynecologist-Obstetrician and Professor of Obstetrics, Netherlands
Rebekka Visser, Midwife, Netherlands
Robert Kottenhagen, professor of law and ethics, Netherlands
Wilma Duijst, forensic doctor and criminal law researcher, Netherlands
Joke Meulmeester, Chair Person VVAK (child protective services), Netherlands

 

 

PANEL 7: FINANCIAL PRESSURES ON THE DUTCH OBSTETRIC SYSTEM


Moderator: Simone Valk, midwife, Netherlands
Marian van Huis, midwife, Treasurer, International Confederation of Midwives, Netherlands
Jos Becker Hoff, CEO KNOV (Royal Dutch Society of Midwives), Netherlands
Hein Bruinse, Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Netherlands
Rachel Verweij, Mother and Chairperson of consumer group Het Ouderschap, Netherlands
Mary Zwart, Midwife, Portugal and the Netherlands

 

 

PANEL 8: TERNOVSZKY IN HOLLAND: THE FUTURE OF CHOICE IN THE DUTCH OBSTETRIC SYSTEM


Moderator: Michelle ten Berge, Midwife, Netherlands
Barbara Wijsen, Secretary General, Commission for Perinatal Health (CPZ), Netherlands
Gunilla Kleiverda, Obstetrician-Gynecologist and President Board Women on Waves, Netherlands
Fleur van Leeuwen, Assistant Professor Human Rights Law, Netherlands and Turkey
Angela Verbeeten, Chairperson KNOV, Netherlands
Marjolein Faber, Student of Midwifery and Medicine, Netherlands
Jennifer Walker, Doula, Netherlands

Opening Remarks at Hague Conference

The first Human Rights in Childbirth Conference was held in the Hague in 2012. These are the opening remarks, made by HRiC’s first president and founding member Hermine Hayes Klein.

Welcome, Everybody! I am Hermine Hayes-Klein. I am the director of the Bynkershoek Research Center for Reproductive Rights, here in The Hague.

You have come from around the world to The Hague, the world capital of peace, justice, and law. You have come to learn, to share, and to work together to figure out the role of law and human rights in the most fundamental of human experiences: birth.
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Hague Conference – Conference Experiences

The Human Rights in Childbirth Inagural Conference in the Hague brought together stakeholders from throughout maternity care for the first time. Some participants provided their impressions from the conference below.

Maria Andreoulaki, doula and doula trainer, Greece

Attending the Conference was a blessing for me. I am very grateful to European Network of Childbirth Associations (ENCA) for sponsoring my trip. The subjects discussed were exactly the ones that have troubled me for the last 16 years, when I first became a mother, and I was so thrilled to meet other people that had similar concerns and ideas and to see it all organized in such an official setting!
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