Thanks for sharing. Do you know why you feel this way? i know the messages i got from my mum were labour is scary, you don't have much say and that is the way it is ('leave your dignity at the door' kind of comments). I thought her view sucked and so i looked into it further, but i think some of her fears still rubbed off. DS' birth changed this for me, and for my Mum.

Do you feel similarly about other professionals (health or otherwise)?
I'd think it would be from other both experiences I had been raised hearing. From the research I had done prior to birth I had decided I should be able to avoid being cut, and despite my ob's explanation I had written in my birth plan I wanted to avoid an episiotomy if possible. I guess it happens so often and appears common that you forget to question it.

I would say I am fairly trusting, but I also like to be educated even if that means me doing my own research. There are some things I would refuse medically completely, and if they were violated I would be angry to say the least. I believe in trying to work in with the hcp so that everyone is comfortable in the end. In the end though every patient has the right to accept and refuse medical treatments without judgement or pressure.

My mum actually tells me she wishes there was the same education of women in birth as I have afforded myself.