All childbearing women across the globe are entitled to respectful maternity care (Health Policy Project, n.d.). Women's interactions with maternity caregivers may either empower and support them or cause long-term harm and emotional damage. In any case, memories of childbirth events remain with women for the rest of their lives. While numerous programs try to enhance access to expert delivery care, the quality of interactions with caregivers throughout maternity care has gotten less attention.
In a study entitled, “Promoting compassionate and respectful maternity care during facility-based delivery in Ethiopia: perspectives of clients and midwives,” Jiru (2021) investigated clients' and midwives' views of compassionate and respectful maternity care during facility-based delivery in Bishoftu District, Oromia, Ethiopia. The study population comprised women who had given birth in a health facility during the preceding two weeks and midwifery specialists who offered maternity care in the health institution's labor and delivery wards. In the collection of data, individual interviews were conducted. For the results of the study, several themes emerged and it was concluded that the majority of women were unsatisfied with their maternity care during labor and delivery after experiencing disrespect and violence during labor and childbirth. Clients endure verbal abuse, neglect, and a lack of supportive treatment throughout labor and deliveries, despite midwives' testimonies indicating that they were aware of the necessity of compassionate and respectful maternity care. Disrespectful or abusive behaviors infringed the human rights of clients. To deliver compassionate and respectful client-centered maternity care, it is critical to address structural issues such as provider workload and any other activities targeted at strengthening midwives' interpersonal interactions with women.
With this, respectful maternity care must be practiced to protect the autonomy and right to self-determination of childbearing women. Meanwhile, negative behaviors demonstrated during maternal care such as discrimination and abuse violate women’s basic rights.
References:
Health Policy Project. (n.d.). Respectful Maternity Care. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from http://www.healthpolicyproject.com/index.cfm?ID=topics-RMC
Jiru, H. D. (2021, October 1). Promoting compassionate and respectful maternity care during facility-based delivery in Ethiopia: perspectives of clients and midwives. BMJ Open. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/10/e051220