Disrespectful Maternity Care: Labor Room Violence in Government Health Facilities in India

Lovey Pant, Nazar Khalid, Kanika Sharma and Nikhil Srivastav

No 8mbxz_v1, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: The government of India endeavors to enhance the satisfaction of beneficiaries by ensuring ‘Respectful Maternity Care’ (RMC) at public health facilities. However, through observations in public hospitals in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, we document widespread mistreatment of pregnant women. We found that women were subjected to different extensive verbal and physical violence. They were also humiliated for their fertility choices and had intrauterine devices (IUDs) inserted without their full knowledge and consent. A target driven approach towards contraception and population control, staff’s burn-out from too many patients and long shifts, the lack of knowledge among staff on how to deal with the legitimate stress of a life and death situation, and a highly unequal society where it is socially acceptable to victimize low-ranking people, collectively contribute to different forms of violence against pregnant women in delivery rooms in India.

Date: 2021-03-26
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:8mbxz_v1

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/8mbxz_v1

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