
Safe medical choices in pregnancy…
When Push Comes To Shove: Standing Up For Safe, Informed Choices In Pregnancy
Understanding The Importance Of True Informed Consent
Pregnancy should be a time of empowerment, not pressure or fear. Yet, many women find themselves navigating a system where their choices are questioned, dismissed, or overridden. When Push Comes To Shove is a grassroots movement committed to changing that, ensuring that women have access to balanced, evidence-based information and can make decisions free from coercion.
Founded on the principle that your body, your baby, your choice is non-negotiable, the organisation supports women in standing firm against unnecessary pressure, whether that relates to birth interventions, hospital policies, or the right to choose where and how to give birth.
The Pressure Pregnant Women Face
All too often, maternity care presents routine procedures as mandatory, even when they are not. Many women experience:
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Pressure to accept inductions without genuine medical necessity
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Limited support for physiological birth, particularly after a previous caesarean
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Poor access to balanced information about the risks of interventions versus natural birth
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Dismissal of concerns about hospital policies, including restrictions on birth partners or refusal of home birth requests
This is not about rejecting medical care but about ensuring that every decision is made with complete understanding, free from fear-based pressure, and based on individual circumstances.
Respectful Maternity Care
At its heart, When Push Comes To Shove is about ensuring that maternity care in the UK respects women’s autonomy. It is about reminding both expectant mothers and healthcare professionals that informed consent is not optional — it is a legal and ethical requirement.
Just a friendly reminder that no information in this publication constitutes legal or medical advice from My Medical Choice or any of our affiliates and the contents of this document are for educational and support purposes only.