A Passion for Birth

by Sheila Kitzinger

  Many women sought her out after births in which they had been disempowered and which they described in imagery similar to that used about rape. So she started a Birth Crisis counselling network of women willing to listen to their experiences and help them find strength to cope.

  The tradition of activism and love of challenges that she inherited from her mother she also shared with her daughters. She very much enjoyed being present when Tess gave birth in water in the family home, and her social and political awareness was sharpened by those of her daughters who are radical lesbian feminists. One of her books, Talking with Children about Things that Matter, she co-authored with her psychologist daughter, Celia.

  For her the most important thing was that she passed on and shared with other women the courage, commitment and understanding needed in the struggle to enable women’s voices to be heard.

  POSTSCRIPT

  Sheila did not get the melodramatic death she imagined in this scenario. She died at her home in Oxfordshire at the age of 86 on 11 April 2015 – shortly after completing this autobiography.

  She approached death with the same attitude as birth – questioning the need for various medical interventions and making her own choices. She set down her wishes in an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment and gave one of her daughters power to represent her should she lose the capacity to take decisions for herself at the time.

  Her family carried her body in a brightly decorated cardboard coffin of her choice to a natural burial site. They read some of Sheila’s own poetry at the grave and sprinkled in earth, sprigs of rosemary and camellia blossom from her beloved garden.

  With my beautiful mother and baby brother

  My brother David

  Teachers found me difficult

  Father’s photograph of a family picnic

  David in Paris, working for

  the World Student Federalists

  Young wife – photo by my father-in-law

  We married each other in the Quaker Meeting House, Oxford, 4 October 1952

  Pregnant diplomatic wife, 1956

  Strasbourg in the early 1950s

  With Shirley and Bernard Williams at my sister-in-law Helge’s wedding, 1955

  Celia’s home birth in Strasbourg, 1956

  Enjoying parenthood, 1957

  Celia’s first birthday cake

  Celia with my mother Clare

  Tom Quad, Oxford:

  Jenny, Nell, Celia, Polly, Tess

  Playing with Mr Potato Head

  just after Polly was born, 1961

  My retreat – the playpen

  Polly at the helm off France

  Polly, Jenny, Nell and Richard Ifill in

  the paddock with some of our pets

  Ocho Rios, Jamaica, 1965

  With Polly near Bages in the 1970s

  Us together three days before Uwe had an eye

  removed because of a melanoma, 1970

  The Lord in judgement (triptych)

  Happy with Laura and Sam

  Sam’s waterbirth

  A baby-friendly conference

  My family remember me always on the phone,

  always listening to women

  Launching Freedom and Choice in Childbirth with Michel Odent and Felicity Kendal, 1987

  Nancy Durrell McKenna (left) contributed

  her photos to half a dozen of my books

  An NCT coffee break

  With Wendy Savage

  With Polly collecting for Lentils for Dubrovnik

  With Joan Gibson and Ruth Forbes

  Launching Woman’s Experience of Sex with Nell, Celia, Polly and Jenny, 1983

  Tess breastfeeding Sam

  Our fisherman neighbour’s door

  to nowhere

  Wonderful light and studio space for my painting in southern France

  Bages cemetery

  Uwe in the bath

  January in Morocco

  Great is Artemis of the Ephesians

  Gruissan Plage, 1968

  We love Italy

  Sam’s first Christmas

  Kingston Airport: Seeing off

  Polly and Mutti

  With Miranda at Tess’s wedding

  We Love Polly website, welovepolly.org

  Inventing our family rituals:

  burying Sam’s placenta

  The Birthrights Rally – protesting at an obstetrician’s decision that in the

  Royal Free Hospital all women must give birth on their backs, 1982

  Buckingham Palace, 1982

  Family kitchen with Sam

  My kitchen: a riot of colour

  Set for a special occasion

  Roses, cake and chocolates on my 85th birthday

  Sheila’s coffin in the dining room, 12 April 2015

  My special thanks

  Lesley Page, CBE, President of the Royal College of Midwifery and an inspiring friend.

  My assistant, Sue Allen, for her skills and commitment.

  All the ideas contributed by Rosie Denmark and my new editor Jan Heron.

  Hazel Wilce, who keeps the house shining so that I can concentrate on my work.

  My husband, Uwe, for his superb long-term memory and his records of important events in our lives, of our international journeys and of hard facts. Whenever I seek a date Uwe can come up with it.

  Dr Luke Zander, long-term friend and colleague, Founder of the Royal Society of Medicine Forum on Maternity and the Newborn.

  Dr Ethel Burns for all her exciting work on labouring and giving birth in water.

  Helena Kennedy QC for her tireless work for equality.

  Celia and Jenny, sharing my struggle for social justice and helping create a feminist revolution.

  My daughter, Tess McKenney, who has supported and nurtured me in every way possible. Without her this book would never have seen the light of day. She is responsible for the illustrations, for stimulating my energy, and keeping me focused.

  REFERENCES

  1 Torr H. A Matter of Life or Death, Humanity, vol.2, no.1, January 1948

  2 The Guardian, 12 August 2003

  3 Private correspondence, 1950

  4 Garcia J. The Politics of Maternity Care: Services for Childbearing Women in Twentieth Century Britain, Clarendon Press, London, 1990

  5 Kitzinger S. Freedom and Choice in Childbirth, Penguin, London 1988

  6 Velvosky L., Platonov K., Ploticher V. and Shugom E. Painless Childbirth through Psychoprophylaxis, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow 1960

  7 Dick-Read G., Childbirth without Fear Heinemann Medical Books, London 1942

  8 Karmel M. Thank you Dr Lamaze Harper & Row, New York 1959

  9 Lamaze F. Painless Childbirth Burke, London 1958, p139–140

  10 Guttmacher A. Having a Baby, Signet, USA, 1950

  11 Leavitt J.W. Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America 1750–1950 Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1986

  12 Hysterectomy Surveillance – United States, 1994–1999, available at cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5105a1.htm

  13 Scully D. Men Who Control Women’s Health, Houghton Mifflin, Boston 1980

  14 Masters W.H. and Johnson V.E. Human Sexual Response. Bantam Books, New York 1966 and Masters W.H. and Johnson V.E. Human Sexual Inadequacy Bantam Books, New York 1970

  15 Caldeyro-Barcia R. et al Bearing-down efforts and their effects Journal of Perinatal Medicine, 1981; 9 supple 1: 63–7

  16 Edwards M. and Waldorf M. Reclaiming Birth. History and Heroines of American Childbirth Reform. The Crossing Press, New York 1984, p139

  17 Newton N. Maternal Emotions Paul B. Hoeber Inc, New York 1955.

  18 Mutwa V. Indaba My Children: African Folktales, 1st American Ed, Groves Press 1999

  19 Kitzinger S. Rediscovering Birth, 2nd ed, Pinter & Martin, London 2011

  20 Pankhurst S. The Suffragette: The History of the Women’s Militant Suffrage Movement: 1905–1910 Sturgis & Walton 1911, available at archive.org/details/suffragettehisto00pankuoft

  21 Kit
zinger S. Giving Birth: Emotions in Childbirth, Gollancz, London, 1971, p5

  22 Kitzinger S. Women as Mothers, Fontana Books, Glasgow, 1978, p142–143, 162

  23 Spare Rib, Issue 36, 1975

  24 Expectant Fathers, National Childbirth Trust, London 1974

  25 O’Driscoll K. and Meagher D. Active Management of Labor, Sanders W (ed), Clinical and Obstetric Gynecology Supplement 1, 1980.

  26 Chalmers I., Enkin M. and Keirse M. (eds) Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1989

  27 Chard T. and Richards M., eds. Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 64: Benefits and Hazards of the New Obstetrics Spastics International Medical Publications, London 1977, p72

  28 Chalmers I., Lawson J.G. and Turnbull A.C. Evaluation of different approaches to obstetric care British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1976, p921-929, p930-933

  29 Winterton Report House of Commons Health Committee, London 1992

  30 Changing Childbirth Department of Health, London 1993

  31 Micklethwait L., Beard R., and Shaw K. Expectations of a Pregnant Woman in Relation to Her Treatment British Medical Journal, 1978;2:188

  32 Kitzinger S. The Good Birth Guide, Fontana, London 1979 and Kitzinger S. The New Good Birth Guide, Penguin, London 1983

  33 O’Driscoll K., et al. Active Management of Labour – care of the fetus British Medical Journal, December 1977

  34 Chalmers I. Confronting therapeutic ignorance British Medical Journal 2008;337:a841;246-247

  35 Klaus M., Kennell J. Maternal–Infant Bonding, Rosby, 1976

  36 Department of Health and Social Security Report on Health and Social Subjects 9 ‘Present day practice in infant feeding’ HMSO, London 1974

  37 Garcia J. Community Health Council News 70, 72, 1981

  38 Bowlby J. Psycho-Analysis and Childcare in Sutherland J. (ed) Psycho-analysis and Contemporary Thought, Hogarth Press, 1958

  39 Kitzinger S., and Nilsson L., Being Born, Dorling Kindersley, 1986

  40 Guardian Women, 1986

  41 Medical Defence Union Consent to Treatment London 1974

  42 Bourne G. Pregnancy Pan Books, London 1984

  43 Thompson W.I., The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light Palgrave Macmillan, 1996

  44 Toronto Globe 25 June 1982

  45 Velvovsky I., et al. Painless Childbirth from Psychoprophylaxis, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow 1960

  46 Wood P., Foureur M. A clean front passage: dirt, douches and disinfectants at St Helens Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand, 1907-1922 in Kirkham M. ed. Exploring the Dirty Side of Women’s Health, Routledge, London 2007

  47 Tao Te Ching translated by Heider J. The Tao of Leadership. Wildwood House, London 1986

  48 Information booklet for EU applicants: Registering as a nurse or midwife in the UK. NMC, November 2010

  49 Case of Dubská and Krejzová v. The Czech Republic hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng Applications 28859/11 & 28473/12

  50 House of Commons Health Committee, 1992: para 49

  51 Ternovsky v Hungary. Application No: 67545/09

  52 Dubská and Krejzová v. The Czech Republic. Application Nos. 28859/11, 28473/12

  53 www.freegereb.org

  54 Communique of the Ministry of Justice, Budapest, Hungary, 12 November 2010

  55 Kerry D., International Spokesperson, Freebirth Support Group, www.freegereb.org

  56 Broz, S. Our Campaign for Civil Courage, lecture Sarajevo, 19 November 2010; www.gariwo.org

  57 Brown S. and Lumley J. Missing Voices: The Experience of Motherhood, Oxford University Press, Melbourne 1994, p83

  58 op cit, p37

  59 Garcia J. Women’s Views of Antenatal Care, in Enkin M., Chalmers I. (eds), Effectiveness and Satisfaction in Antenatal Care Spastics International Medical Publications 1982, p. 81–91

  60 Simkin P. Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn. Meadowbrook, Minnesota USA 1979

  61 Oakley A. Women Confined: Towards a Sociology of Childbirth, Martin Robertson, Oxford 1980

  62 British Medical Journal 2011;343:d7400

  63 Paul C. The New Zealand cervical cancer study: Could it happen again? British Medical Journal 297: 533–539, 1988

  64 Page L (ed). The New Midwifery: Science and Sensitivity in Practice, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh 2000

  65 Audit Commission. First Class Delivery: improving maternity services in England and Wales, HMSO, London, 1997; Green J., Coupland V., Kitzinger J. Great Expectations: a prospective study of women’s expectations and experiences of childbirth Child Care and Development Group, Cambridge, 1998; Mccourt C., Page L., Hewison J., Vail A. Evaluation of one-to-one midwifery: women’s responses to care Birth, 1998;125:2; Simkin P. Just another day in a woman’s life? Part II: Nature and consistency of women’s long-term memories of their first birth experiences, Birth 1992;19:2

  66 Page L. and McCandlish R. The New Midwifery: Science and Sensitivity in Practice, Elsevier, 2006

  67 Kitzinger S. Having a baby in a major teaching hospital: Some women’s experiences, unpublished, 1998

  68 Kitzinger S. Birth and violence against women: generating hypotheses from women’s accounts of unhappiness after childbirth. In Roberts H (ed) Women’s Health Matters, Routledge, London 1992

  69 Gaskin I.M. Spiritual Midwifery, The Book Publishing Co, USA, 1977

  70 Gaskin I.M. Birth Matters: A Midwife’s Manifesta, Pinter & Martin, London 2011

  71 Sherr L. The Psychology of Pregnancy and Childbirth, Blackwell Science, Oxford 1995

  72 ibid p91

  73 ibid p92-95

  74 ibid p115

  75 Rothman S. cited in Wertz R.W. Lying-In: A History of Childbirth in America The Free Press, New York 1977

  76 Gabbe S.G. and DeLee J.B. cited in Wertz R.W. 1977 Lying-In: A History of Childbirth in America. The Free Press, New York 1977

  77 Beynon C. The Normal Second Stage of Labour – a plea for reform in its conduct, Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Empire, 64: 815-820, 1957

  78 Kitzinger S. (ed) Episiotomy: physical and emotional aspects, NCT, London, 1981

  79 Tselem B. The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories www.btselem.org/english

  80 United Nations Towards a More Secure Future: UN Agencies Operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Call for Action in Improving the Situation of Palestinian Women. UN Press Release, International Women’s Day, 2005

  81 Amnesty International. Israel and the Occupied Territories – Conflict, Occupation and Patriarchy – Women carry the burden. www.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150162005. 2005

  82 McNabb M. Pregnancy and Childbirth in Palestinian communities under military occupation International Midwifery, 2003;16(1)

  83 Amnesty International Israel and the Occupied Territories – Conflict, Occupation and Patriarchy – Women carry the burden. www.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150162005, 2005

  84 Amnesty International. Israel and the Occupied Territories – Conflict, Occupation and Patriarchy – Women carry the burden. www.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150162005. 2005

  85 United Nations. Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences: Mission to Occupied Palestinian Territories February 200

  86 Prison Reform Trust 2004 Fact File. In Lacking Conviction, London, Prison Reform Trust.

  87 Kitzinger C., Kitzinger S. Birth Trauma: talking with women and the value of conversation analysis, British Journal of Midwifery, May 2007;15:5

  88 Kitzinger S. Birth Your Way, Freshheart Publishing, London, 2011

  89 Quoted from Wordsworth’s Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood

  90 Kitzinger C. Afterword: Reflections on Three Decades of Lesbian and Gay Psychology, Feminism and Psychology, 2004, 14(4) 523-530

  91 ibid

  92 World Health Organization, Women’s Health: Fact Sheet No. 334, updated 2013

  93 The Sunday Times, 16 March 2014


  94 Family Experiences of Vegetative and Minimally Conscious States, www.healthtalk.org

  INDEX

  Abbé Pierre 53

  abortion 49, 207, 231, 247–8, 251, 330

  acceleration/augmentation of labour (with drugs) 160, 162, 174, 184, 262

  Active Birth Movement 77, 189, 191, 245, 294

  Active Management of birth 157–63, 176, 184, 313

  activism and campaigning

  for asylum seekers 319–22

  Birth Rights rally 189–91

  campaigners-medical professionals working together 168

  in Canada 233, 244

  on the induction issue 162

  for involvement of fathers 177–8

  march for rights in childbirth 230

  for midwifery 244, 250–4

  Royal Free Protest 156, 189–91

  SK demonstrating birth whilst on a protest march 233, 244

  by SK’s daughters 39, 137, 197, 342–3

  in support of Agnes Gereb 254–60

  in support of Wendy Savage 230–2

  by Uwe Kitzinger 338

  for women in prison 324–8

  adoptive mothers 220

  Advanced Decisions 10–11, 342

  advocacy, patient 286–8, 342

  Africa

  refugees and asylum seekers from 318–24

  SK’s work on female genital mutilation 198–201

  vegetarian pregnancy 345

  Agnes, Aunt 24