Women’s Human Rights in Obstetric Care in Healthcare Facilities in Slovakia

Women – Mothers – Bodies: Women’s Human Rights in Obstetric Care in Healthcare Facilities in Slovakia is the first publication to discuss obstetric care in the country from the perspective of women’s human rights. As obstetric care in Slovakia is concentrated almost exclusively in healthcare facilities and provided under the supervision of physicians – with no alternative options, for example, in the form of birthing houses led by midwives, or an official home-birth system organized by the state –, the monopolized and institutionalized aspect of this care, coupled with women being particularly vulnerable during pregnancy, birth, and Add to dictionary, makes it a specific phenomenon demonstrating a power imbalance that deserves consistent and critical examination. In this context, obstetric care in Slovakia is a topic that deserves and requires consideration from a human rights perspective. Public discourse regarding obstetric care in Slovakia also considerably lacks a human rights perspective. Its absence only highlights the dissonance between, on the one hand, the authoritative views of medical science and practice (represented mainly by male obstetricians in the public space) that remain unchallenged, and which, in addition, are granted both official and high-profile status within the public discourse (for example, by opinion-making media, expert forums, etc.) and, on the other hand, the authentic experience of women of varied social background, age, education, ethnicity, or other characteristics, whose voice can as yet only be heard on internet discussion fora and pages of women’s magazines, or at the fora of women’s organizations and informal groups. The views of these women and of those who actually make decisions governing obstetric care in Slovakia can hardly meet, neither in reality nor at a symbolic level. It is the human rights view of obstetric care – one that is based on the concept of women being the primary holders of rights, and healthcare providers along with the state being the primary holders of obligations and responsibilities – that can make these differing views eventually meet and facilitate subsequent discussion, and, perhaps, future cooperation based on equality and mutual respect that will bring satisfactory and positive results.