addressing key challenges

addressing key challenges < SRHM

July 25, 2024:

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH MATTERS (RHM) publishes its 53rd journal issue Disrespect and Abuse In Maternal Care: Addressing Key Challenges. The issue, edited jointly by Gita Sen, Bhavya Reddy, Aditi Iyer and Shirin Heidari, highlights concerns about abusive, disrespectful and neglectful treatment of women before, during and after childbirth in healthcare systems, and examines this problem through multiple lenses. The issue sheds light on the drivers of disrespect and abuse in obstetric care, offering insights into the consequences of structural violence and highlighting the devastating mistreatment of women throughout the birthing process.

Respectful maternity care is a human right. In 2014, WHO released a statement calling for the prevention and elimination of disrespect and abuse during childbirth, stating that “every woman has the right to the highest attainable standard of health, including the right to dignified, respectful care during pregnancy and childbirth.” WHO also called for the mobilization of governments, programmers, researchers, advocates and communities to support respectful maternity care. In 2016, WHO published new guidelines for improving quality of care for mothers and new-borns in health facilities, which included an increased focus on respect and preservation of dignity.

The journal issue covers a range of emerging topics including: how disrespect and abuse get built into and reproduced through the organisational culture of medical institutions, the role of social activism in engendering greater accountability, the politics of identities shaping women’s experiences during childbirth, observation versus self-report in the measurement of disrespect and abuse during facility-based childbirth and litigating to ensure access to quality maternal health care for women and girls.

Disrespect and abuse in maternal care is examined in multiple regions including Brazil, India, Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya. Training, public policy, organisational culture, structural violence as well as qualitative studies of women’s observations and perspectives are examined in order to paint a nuanced picture of the drivers of disrespect and abuse in maternal care.

Read the full issue online and open access

Source link

tags

Abkhazia Afghanistan Africa Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curacao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guam Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Northern Cyprus Norway Oman Pakistan Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Lucia Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda UK Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay USA Uzbekistan Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe