TY - JOUR
T1 - Disrespect and abuse experienced by women during childbirth in midwife-led obstetric units in Tshwane district, South Africa
T2 - A qualitative study
AU - Malatji, Refilwe
AU - Madiba, Sphiwe
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2020/5/2
Y1 - 2020/5/2
N2 - The disrespect and abuse (D&A) of women during childbirth is common and a great concern in midwifery-led obstetric units (MOUs) in South Africa. This paper used the seven chapters of the Respectful Maternity Care Charter as a framework to explore women’s experiences of care during childbirth and examine the occurrence of D&A during childbirth in MOUs. Five focus group interviews were conducted with postnatal women aged 18 to 45 years selected purposively from MOUs in Tshwane District in South Africa. The discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a thematic approach and NVivo11 computer software. D&A of women was common during labor and childbirth. Verbal abuse in the form of shouting, labeling, judging, and rude remarks was the common form of D&A. Some of the women were abandoned and neglected, which resulted in their giving birth without assistance. Furthermore, the midwives violated their rights and denied them care such as pain relief medication, birth companions during childbirth, and access to ambulance services. Midwives are at the center of the provision of maternity care in MOUs in South Africa. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen interventions to adopt and implement policies that promotes respectful, nonabusive care during childbirth in MOUs.
AB - The disrespect and abuse (D&A) of women during childbirth is common and a great concern in midwifery-led obstetric units (MOUs) in South Africa. This paper used the seven chapters of the Respectful Maternity Care Charter as a framework to explore women’s experiences of care during childbirth and examine the occurrence of D&A during childbirth in MOUs. Five focus group interviews were conducted with postnatal women aged 18 to 45 years selected purposively from MOUs in Tshwane District in South Africa. The discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a thematic approach and NVivo11 computer software. D&A of women was common during labor and childbirth. Verbal abuse in the form of shouting, labeling, judging, and rude remarks was the common form of D&A. Some of the women were abandoned and neglected, which resulted in their giving birth without assistance. Furthermore, the midwives violated their rights and denied them care such as pain relief medication, birth companions during childbirth, and access to ambulance services. Midwives are at the center of the provision of maternity care in MOUs in South Africa. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen interventions to adopt and implement policies that promotes respectful, nonabusive care during childbirth in MOUs.
KW - Abuse
KW - Birthing experience
KW - Disrespective care
KW - Maternity Care Charter
KW - South Africa
KW - Violation of rights
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085249803&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph17103667
DO - 10.3390/ijerph17103667
M3 - Article
C2 - 32456063
AN - SCOPUS:85085249803
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 17
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 10
M1 - 3667
ER -