Terms and Conditions
Website Content
RESOURCES
Information, resources, contents of this website - and other platforms owned/controlled by the owner of The Obstetric Justice Project - do not constitute professional legal or medical advice and are not to be construed as professional legal or medical advice.
Links to outside content are shared as peer support information only and do not constitute professional legal or medical advice.
All of the content on this website - and other platforms owned/controlled by the owner of The Obstetric Justice Project - including text, images, and other media are shared for general informational and educational purposes only. This content is not a substitute for professional legal or medical advice.
As peer support information, content may not be up-to-date, accurate, or reliable.
We are not responsible for any action taken by a reader based upon any information on this site. Use at your own risk.
USE OF COMMUNITY STORY BLOG SUBMISSIONS AND WEBSITE CONTENT
The Community Story Blog is not your data set.
All content and story submissions publicly available on this website are available for internet users worldwide to interact with. However, we ask that readers respect the sensitive stories shared in this space and do not republish or reproduce stories elsewhere outside their intended context without credit and explicit written permission from the authors.
We do not condone any external research or publications stemming directly or solely from the blog that have been completed without the consultation or consent of the authors of individual stories and without the consultation or consent of The Obstetric Justice Project.
COMMUNITY STORY BLOG
Stories and content shared on the Community Story Blog and elsewhere on this website may contain accounts of discrimination, violence, negligence, and disrespect. This may be distressing to some readers.
The stories and content shared on the Community Story Blog and elsewhere on this website represent the views, experiences, opinions, and perceptions of the individuals who wrote/submitted them.
As views, experiences, opinions, and perceptions are wholly individual, they do not necessary reflect those of The Obstetric Justice Project or the owner of The Obstetric Justice Project.
Blog posts written by or on behalf of The Obstetric Justice Project or the owner of The Obstetric Justice Project are tagged “Admin Post” to differentiate from reader-submitted stories.
COMMUNITY STORY BLOG SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
If you have chosen to send a submission for the Community Story Blog, It is required that your submission:
Must be true to the best of your memory
Must not be vexatious, libelous or defamatory
Must adhere to the policies and terms
If you have questions about these submission guidelines for the Community Story Blog, contact obstetricjustice@gmail.com
COMMUNITY STORY BLOG READERSHIP
If you have chosen to share your story on the blog, it will be public. It will be shared widely on social media platforms and available for anyone on the internet to view, share, and quote. The website has readers around the world.
Your own healthcare providers may read your story. People in your community may read your story. Your friends and family may read your story. Your words have the power to reach and influence many.
Even if you submitted your story anonymously, people may recognize you by the personal details you chose to publish.
If there is any information that you are not comfortable making very public, permanently, it is your responsibility to omit it from your submission (including but not limited to: your name, your healthcare providers’ names, important dates or identifying information, any other private or personal details)
Healthcare students, professionals, and birth workers submitting stories are asked to respect the privacy of their clients and not share details that are so specific (exact dates, detailed personal health histories, identifying information, etc.) without consent, as that would breach privacy regulations and practice standards. It is very possible to share stories about your experiences and care you have witnessed or participated in without revealing the identities and private health information of those involved. Your stories are important and valued in this space. If you need support to craft your submission, please reach out by email for assistance: obstetricjustice@gmail.com
EDITING OR REMOVING CONTENT
If you wish to make changes to, or update an existing blog post that you have submitted along with your email address, you are welcome to do so at any time. Submit your edits to obstetricjustice@gmail.com.
If you have changed your mind about sharing your story or photo and wish to have it removed from the blog, it will be deleted at your request, no questions asked. If possible, please make that request via the email with which you submitted your story.
Keep in mind that it may take time for the post to be cleared from search engine caches to not show up in results even after the original post has been removed.
Parts of your story may continue to exist elsewhere, including but not limited to. posts or captions on social media posts linking to your story, and other places where internet users have shared your words. We ask that no one republishes or reproduces the stories elsewhere without consultation and explicit written consent, however, we are not able to monitor the internet for unethical theft or misuse of the stories.
If your story was submitted after June 1, 2019, some data or parts of your submission may continue to exist elsewhere in content by The Obstetric Justice Project (including but not limited to: data in reports and community presentations, or reproduced in social media posts and graphics to bring awareness to Obstetric Violence and Reproductive Justice in Canada).
If your story was submitted anonymously (without your email address) after February 9, 2022, requests to edit or remove the anonymous submission will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to ensure only the author is able to make these changes and preserve the integrity of the space.
We hope that readers respect the time and labour that goes into this website, and the care and vulnerability with which each story is shared.
Please contact by email if you have questions or concerns: obstetricjustice@gmail.com
EMAIL USE
If you have chosen to send a submission for the Community Story Blog containing your email address, your email address is required to tell you that:
Your submission has been posted and is now available online
Your submission may have some errors or omissions that must be clarified before it can be made available online (this is rare)
You are invited to let us know of any errors or details you’d like to add or change and whether you’d like to add a photo to your submission
It’s not possible to unsubscribe from these messages at this time.
From time to time, requests are received from the public to connect with authors of particular stories ie: fellow patients looking to connect with folks who had similar experiences with individual care providers or hospitals for the purposes of filing joint complaints, or investigative journalists working on a story about individual abusive care providers, etc. Contact information or personal details are never shared with anyone outside The Obstetric Justice Project without your express consent. Your privacy (and anonymity for those who chose to remain anonymous) is important and will always be respected.
PUBLISHING
The Obstetric Justice Project reserves the right not to publish submissions for any reason including, but not limited to:
Submissions are not accompanied by a valid email address, or if an attempt to contact you at the email address provided was not successful (check your spam folder!)
Submissions are excessively vague or omit key pieces of information that readers would need to clearly understand the purpose of your submission. These types of submissions may be better suited to other platforms like rateMDs
Submissions that are not linked somehow to the Canadian healthcare systems or experiences (it’s absolutely okay - and encouraged! - to talk about experiences, policies, and systems elsewhere in the world, but try to ground or connect them to what’s happening here as well. Reach out via email if you need assistance)
Submissions that are not related to preconception care, family planning, pregnancy, childbirth, the postpartum period, abortion, loss, early parenting, infant feeding, perinatal mental health, or sexual and reproductive healthcare
Submissions that are not truthful, contain hate speech, libel, or are not relevant to the purpose, goals, and mission of this website
Submissions may be lightly proofread and formatted for the blog, or posted as is. If you submitted your story along with your email address, you will have an opportunity to point out errors or to add to or make changes to your submission at any time by contacting obstetricjustice@gmail.com.
Requests to edit or remove submissions made anonymously (without your email address) will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to ensure only the author is able to make these changes and preserve the integrity of the space.
See Frequently Asked Questions for more details.
USE OF STORY CONTENT BY INTERNET USERS
The Obstetric Justice Project kindly asks that internet users respect the sensitive stories shared in this space and do not publish or reproduce them elsewhere without explicit written permission from the authors. However, we cannot monitor or control how internet users interact with, share, repost, and use content from this website and/or other platforms owned/controlled by The Obstetric Justice Project.
We do not condone any external research or publications stemming directly from the blog that have been completed without the consultation or consent of the authors of individual stories and without the consultation or consent of The Obstetric Justice Project.
USE OF STORY CONTENT BY THE OBSTETRIC JUSTICE PROJECT
For submissions made as of June 1, 2019 this policy has been updated to help further the fight towards Obstetric Justice for all.
In order to further this work, The Obstetric Justice Project may choose to use content for purposes including, but not limited to, research, education, and advocacy. For example:
Quotations from individual stories may be published in our future materials (ie: submissions to the United Nations, public reports, patient advocacy resources, etc)
Quotations from individual stories may be used in our educational resources (ie: slideshows and presentations at conferences, workshops, social media posts, etc.)
Quotations from individual stories may be published in our other reports or resources
Quotations from individual stories may be published in our social media graphics
Information and data may be used in our own research
It is possible to opt-out at any time for future materials not yet published/presented. Opportunities will also arise to submit anonymous stories and content in surveys and online forms.
Please contact obstetricjustice@gmail.com if you have additional questions about this information.
On Sharing and Attribution
The Obstetric Justice Project , Community Story Blog , and other platforms owned/controlled by The Obstetric Justice Project are operated on a volunteer basis through the generous donations of time, skills, and the occasional monetary donation from community members. Please keep this in mind when interacting with this space.
We ask that readers respect the sensitive stories shared in this space and do not republish or reproduce stories elsewhere without credit and explicit written permission from the authors.
We do not condone any external research or publications stemming directly or solely from the blog that have been completed without the consultation or consent of the authors of individual stories and without the consultation or consent of The Obstetric Justice Project.
Please respect the stories shared in this space and do not extract them as a data set for your academic work.
Please contact by email if you have questions or concerns: obstetricjustice@gmail.com
Statement of Values
The Obstetric Justice Project remains pro-choice, 2SLGBTQIA+ positive, striving to show up as an ally to Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities, committed to reproductive justice, the promotion and protection of rights in sexual and reproductive healthcare. We don’t get it right 100% of the time, this is an imperfect work-in-progress. Thank you for your ongoing love and support on this journey!