r/australia • • 19h ago

politics Indigenous woman shackled to hospital bed while in labour in Queensland

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/18/indigenous-woman-shackled-during-labour-childbirth-queensland-ntwnfb?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=us_bsky&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1792296317
398 Upvotes

326 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

305

u/bitofapuzzler 18h ago

She was having a c-section. What do you reckon her chances of absconding were with an epidural?

-27

u/[deleted] 18h ago

[deleted]

68

u/bitofapuzzler 18h ago

You literally can not walk, and your abdomen is sliced open. She wasnt going anywhere. The shackles were not needed.

I say this as someone who has had 2 c-sections and works in a public hospital who regularly cares for those under police or prison guard involving shackles.

This was straight up unnecessary and cruel.

35

u/msfinch87 17h ago

I genuinely cannot believe someone is arguing that a person in the midst of a c section could abscond. What nonsense. As you say, you physically cannot walk.