Respectful Maternity Care is Everyone’s Responsibility
I chose this article as it was able to clearly and comprehensively discuss how the perceived and lived experiences of women affect maternity care which leads to serious medical problems and even maternal deaths. Moreover, this article was able to elaborate on the factors affecting the maternal care of women. Lastly, it presents various suggestions and interventions on how to protect women from disrespect and abuse in maternity care.
Disrespect and abuse during childbirth mirror this lack of responsibility, and they persist as an under-recognized systemic barrier to safe motherhood. The article mentioned three deadly delays a woman can face during labor which are 1) not recognizing the signs of an emergency and seeking care, 2) not identifying and reaching a medical facility, and 3) not receiving adequate and appropriate treatment. Disrespect and abuse can be clearly observed in delays 1 and 3 in which they are not given proper medical attention and forced to endure and suffer labor. One example of this is the case of a 26-year old pregnant mother who died of severe bleeding because she was rejected by 6 hospitals because of different reasons and one of which is the lack of payment. Moreover, women tend to not attend maternal consultations and checkups because of being discriminated against and disrespected in the healthcare setting.
Protecting and upholding the rights of women for maternal care is very vital in safe motherhood. The following are the suggestions on how to sustain respectful maternity care:
- safe working conditions and reasonable working hours
- policies that mandate health workers are treated with respect by other staff and clients
- support from their managers and ministries of health
- training on cultural sensitivity and continual education on evidence-based practices
- mentors who model respectful maternal care
- adequately resourced facilities
- physical and psychosocial support to combat stress and fatigue
Respectful maternity care is necessary and healthcare workers should be the ones to uphold and advocate for it.
“Women are not dying because of untreatable diseases. They are dying because societies have yet to make the decision that their lives are worth saving. We have not yet valued women’s lives and health highly enough.” —Professor Mahmoud Fathalla, 2006UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
References:
Barlett, R. (2015). Respectful Maternity Care is Everyone’s Responsibility. https://www.intrahealth.org/vital/respectful-maternity-care-everyone's-responsibility
Valenzuela, N. (2020). Woman who had just given birth dies after being rejected by 6 hospitals. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1265145/woman-who-had-just-given-birth-dies-after-being-rejected-by-6-hospitals