Compassion v’s empathy
At SMFA, we wonder how maternity care would be if health professionals were compassionate rather than empathetic.
Compassion is the idea of sharing in suffering, having concern for another, but essentially feeling for and not feeling with the other. It is the opposite of empathy where people feel the pain of others.
Therefore there is a danger with empathy that we act on our needs rather than the needs of the woman requiring care.