Respectful maternity care and communication

The research on respectful maternity care is largely qualitative and draws on many countries. Evidence syntheses review respectful care during childbirth in health facilities globally and in West Africa, including the gaps and the implications for practice. Qualitative studies ask providers and clients about disrespect and abuse in Nigeria, compassionate care in Ethiopia, midwives' perspectives and a regional hospital's enabling conditions.

Papers also examine barriers from the provider's side, such as a study of the pressures that make respectful care hard to deliver. Others describe women's accounts of mistreatment, dignity and power during childbirth, and violations of autonomy in obstetric care. A Norwegian study explores midwifery students' perceptions of respectful and disrespectful care.

Parents commonly ask what to expect from the people caring for them, how to speak up and what to do when communication breaks down. The listed titles describe experiences and conditions more than solutions, and the research continues to ask what supports respectful care. An educator may want slides that name respect and dignity as part of good care and that give parents words for conversations with their team. The papers below are the ones the Hub tracks on this topic.