CGPH FACULTY: Suellen Miller
DATE OF PUBLICATION: October 2015
REGION: Global
REFERENCE: Miller S, Lalonde A. The global epidemic of abuse and disrespect during childbirth: History, evidence, interventions, and FIGO’s mother-baby friendly birthing facilities initiative. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2015 Oct;131 Suppl 1:S49-52. doi: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.02.005. Epub 2015 Feb 24.
SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: Recent evidence indicates that disrespectful/abusive/coercive service delivery by skilled providers in facilities, which results in actual or perceived poor quality of care, is directly and indirectly associated with adverse maternal and newborn outcomes. The present article reviews the evidence for disrespectful/abusive care during childbirth in facilities (DACF), describes examples of DACF, discusses organizations active in a rights-based respectful maternity care movement, and enumerates some strategies and interventions that have been identified to decrease DACF. It concludes with a discussion of one strategy, which has been recently implemented by FIGO with global partners-the International Pediatrics Association, International Confederation of Midwives, the White Ribbon Alliance, and WHO. This strategy, the Mother and Baby Friendly Birth Facility (MBFBF) Initiative, is a criterion-based audit process based on human rights’ doctrines, and modeled on WHO/UNICEF’s Baby Friendly Facility Initiative.
ACCESS: Link to Pubmed