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Her clinic has three patient beds and a birthing room with a bare mattress, stirrups and a single IV pole.

One room had been the birthing room, I was told, and I sat in that room writing towards the bright new world I am always trying to write into.

Another, still cluttered with filing cabinets, became a birthing room.

Experts told the Guardian how an already lethal situation is devolving even further as expectant mothers have had their agency stripped away and their support systems pushed out of the birthing room in the name of safety.

You don’t have to admit Peggy to your innermost circle, birthing room or baby registry.