In a commentary article written by Denny (2018), he highlights the need for Respectful Maternity Care to be the standard that every healthcare provider, especially nurses, must protect and uphold. More often than not, pregnant women in marginalized groups experience disrespectful and abusive care. Groups such as those who are low-income, poorly educated ,those living with HIV, and migrants with poor skills in the dominant language, often receive poor maternity care compared to other groups. Citing an example in the UK, Denny has mentioned that the decreasing socio-economic position of women has been found to be associated with women reporting that they are not treated respectfully or spoken to by doctors and midwives in a way they can understand. The implications of such actions lead to infringement on the trust between women and healthcare providers that may affect their general health-seeking behavior and eventually affect not only their health and well-being but their babies as well. This article is a greatly demonstrates how the treatment of healthcare providers including nurses could affect the health behaviors of the clients, and is a great reminder for us student nurses to be mindful of the quality of care that we provide to our patients.
Resources:
Denny, E. (2018). Respectful maternity care needs to be the standard for all women worldwide. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 125(8), 943–943. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.15055