In the field of reproductive medicine, there is high awareness of the quality of breast milk, neonatal indicators and risk profiles. But 20 per cent of women in the province of Québec describe coercive pressure, non-consensual acts or pain ignored while breastfeeding or childbirth.
Doctors rarely take into account patients’ own understanding of their experiences, their anxiety or their ability to make decisions about their care. It’s time for medicine to treat these lived experiences as valuable evidence alongside other scientific considerations.
As a professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal and a researcher in community psychology, my work focuses on reducing social inequalities in health, on public policy in the perinatal field and on institutional reform to promote the well-being of families and professionals.
