WHO news: Learning from women’s experiences during childbirth to improve quality of care

30 March, 2022

Extracts below and a comment from me. Read in full: https://www.who.int/news/item/23-03-2022-learning-from-women-s-experienc...

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23 March 2022 Departmental news

A special supplement from WHO and HRP, newly published in BMJ Global Health, spotlights how women and their newborn babies are treated during childbirth and offers a path to improved facility-based care.

More and more evidence shows that women across the world face unacceptable mistreatment during childbirth. Women everywhere face violations of their rights – including rights to privacy, informed consent, and the right have a trusted companion of choice throughout childbirth.

Mistreatment can seriously erode trust in the health facility, which can mean that women are less likely to access facility-based care before, during and after birth. This can have grave consequences for the health and well-being of women and their babies and can even put their lives at risk.

As Özge Tunçalp, Medical Officer at WHO and the Human Reproductive Program (HRP) explains, “Improving the experience of women throughout labour and childbirth is essential to help increase women’s trust in facility-based care – as well as ensuring access to quality postnatal care following birth.”

More research – and research capacity – is urgently needed to better understand and improve women’s experiences of mistreatment during childbirth but also across the continuum maternity care. This includes research on novel methods of collecting data, understanding how experiences vary depending on context and how these experiences impact overall outcomes...

“When women and their babies receive respectful, quality, person-centred care, they are more likely to access contacts with health workers and they are more likely to access potentially life-saving care at a health-facility,” comments Dr Özge Tunçalp, “Now that we have this evidence we will be able to take more steps towards reducing mistreatment worldwide.”

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Comment (NPW): It is also important to ensure that the basic needs of healthcare staff responsible for childbirth are met. Previous research has suggested a correlation between unrespectful treatment and unmet needs, excessive workload, and inadequate staffing. Meeting the needs of healthcare providers is a vital part of meeting the needs of mothers.

Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Global Coordinator HIFA, www.hifa.org neil@hifa.org