"My mom kept saying to me when I called her for advice during pregnancy, 'Do what the doctor says - he knows best'.

But there was no informed consent. At all.  It was.... ‘This is what we are going to do’...and... ‘I can legally induce you now’...and... ‘Oh, the baby has already had formula, it might just be easier’......I failed at giving birth; I was not going to fail at nursing.

I kept thinking, 'Am I even a woman? I can carry babies to term but I can't birth them?'

"When I went to see my doctor pregnant with my second child, I told her about my first baby's birth....how horrific it was, the complete loss of control and autonomy, the lack of consent, the fact that I was ASLEEP FOR TWO DAYS post-partum and missed the first hours of my baby's life...

As she read my chart to figure out what happened, she tells me, 'Your chart says: "PATIENT ELECTED CESAREAN"."

- Lupe, Amarillo TX