Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T09:21:11.311Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evidence of ‘obstetric violence’ in India: an integrative review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2019

Surbhi Shrivastava Open the ORCID record for Surbhi Shrivastava [Opens in a new window]  and
Muthusamy Sivakami
Surbhi Shrivastava*
Affiliation:
School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
Muthusamy Sivakami
Affiliation:
School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
*
*Corresponding author. Email: surbhis.1724@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The term ‘obstetric violence’ has been used to describe the mistreatment, disrespect and abuse or dehumanized care of women during childbirth by health care providers. This is a review of the existing literature in India on violence against women during childbirth. The review used the typology of Bohren et al. (2015). An internet search of PubMed, Google Scholar and JSTOR was conducted using the terms ‘obstetric violence’, ‘mistreatment’, ‘disrespect and abuse’ and ‘dehumanized care’. Studies based on empirical research on women’s experiences during childbirth in health facilities in India were included in the review. The search yielded sixteen studies: one case study, two ethnographic studies, two mixed-methods studies, three cross-sectional qualitative studies, seven cross-sectional quantitative studies and one longitudinal quantitative study. The studies were analysed using the seven categories of mistreatment outlined by Bohren et al. (2015): 1) physical abuse, (2) sexual abuse, (3) verbal abuse, (4) stigma and discrimination, (5) failure to meet professional standards of care, (6) poor rapport between women and providers, and (7) health system conditions and constraints. An additional category of ‘harmful traditional practices and beliefs’ emerged from the Indian literature, which was also included in the review. Although geographically limited, the selected research highlighted varying prevalences of the different forms of ‘obstetric violence’ in both public and private birth facilities in India. ‘Obstetric violence’ in India was found to be associated with socio-demographic factors, with women of lower social standing experiencing greater levels of mistreatment. In response to this normalized public health issue, a multi-pronged, rights-based framework is proposed that addresses the social, political and structural contexts of ‘obstetric violence’ in India.

Keywords

Obstetric ViolenceMistreatmentMaternal and Child Health
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , July 2020 , pp. 610 - 628
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abuya, T, Warren, CE, Miller, N, Njuki, R, Ndwiga, C, Maranga, Aet al. (2015) Exploring the prevalence of disrespect and abuse during childbirth in Kenya. PLoS One 10(4), e0123606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arora, KS, Shields, LE, Grobman, WA, D’Alton, ME, Lappen, JR and Mercer, BM (2016) Triggers, bundles, protocols, and checklists – what every maternal care provider needs to know. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 214(4), 444–451.10.1016/j.ajog.2015.10.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, L (2007) Women’s experience of childbirth in rural Jharkhand. Economic and Political Weekly 42(48), 62–70.Google Scholar
Bhattacharya, S and Sundari Ravindran, TK (2018) Silent voices: institutional disrespect and abuse during delivery among women of Varanasi district, northern India. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 18(1), 1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bohren, MA, Vogel, JP, Hunter, EC, Lutsiv, O, Makh, SK, Souza, JPet al. (2015) The mistreatment of women during childbirth in health facilities globally: a mixed-methods systematic review. PLoS Medicine 12(6), 1–32.10.1371/journal.pmed.1001847CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowser, D and Hill, K (2010) Exploring Evidence for Disrespect and Abuse in Facility-Based Childbirth: Report of a Landscape Analysis. USAID-TRAction, Boston.Google Scholar
Chadwick, R (2017) Ambiguous subjects: obstetric violence, assemblage and south african birth narratives. Feminism and Psychology 27(4), 489–509.10.1177/0959353517692607CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chattopadhyay, S, Mishra, A and Jacob, S (2017) ‘Safe’, yet violent? Women’s experiences with obstetric violence during hospital births in rural Northeast India. Culture, Health and Sexuality 1058, 1–15.Google Scholar
Chaturvedi, S, De Costa, A and Raven, J (2015) Does the Janani Suraksha Yojana cash transfer programme to promote facility births in India ensure skilled birth attendance? A qualitative study of intrapartum care in Madhya Pradesh. Global Health Action 8, 27427.10.3402/gha.v8.27427CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Consultation on Violence against Women and WHO (1996) Violence Against Women. WHO Consultation, Geneva, 5–7th February 1996. World Health Organization, Geneva. URL: http://www.who.int/iris/handle/10665/63277 (accessed 22nd May 2019).Google Scholar
D’Gregorio, RP (2010) Obstetric violence: a new legal term introduced in Venezuela. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 111(3), 201–202.Google Scholar
Department of Health and Family Welfare (2005) New Scheme for 2005–2006. Government of Tamil Nadu. URL: http://cms.tn.gov.in/sites/default/files/documents/health_and_family_welfare.pdf (accessed 22 May 2019).Google Scholar
Dey, A, Shakya, HB, Chandurkar, D, Kumar, S, Das, AK, Anthony, Jet al. (2017) Discordance in self-report and observation data on mistreatment of women by providers during childbirth in Uttar Pradesh, India. Reproductive Health 14(1), 1–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diamond-Smith, N, Sudhinaraset, M, Melo, J and Murthy, N (2016) The relationship between women’s experiences of mistreatment at facilities during childbirth, types of support received and person providing the support in Lucknow, India. Midwifery 40, 114–123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diamond-Smith, N, Treleaven, E, Murthy, N and Sudhinaraset, M (2017) Women’s empowerment and experiences of mistreatment during childbirth in facilities in Lucknow, India: results from a cross-sectional study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 17 (Supplement 2), 129–141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diniz, CSG and Ayres, JRCM (2001) Entre a técnica e os direitos humanos/: possibilidades e limites da humanização da assistência ao parto. Tese (Doutorado), Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paolo.Google Scholar
Diniz, SG, Salgado, H de O, Andrezzo, HF de A, de Carvalho, PGC, Carvalho, PCA, Aguiar, C de A and Niy, DY (2015) Abuse and disrespect in childbirth care as a public health issue in Brazil: origins, definitions, impacts on maternal health, and proposals for its prevention. Journal of Human Growth and Development 25(3), 377–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, LZ (2015) Obstetrics in a time of violence: Mexican midwives critique routine hospital practices. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 29(4), 437–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freedman, LP and Kruk, ME (2014) Disrespect and abuse of women in childbirth: challenging the global quality and accountability agendas. The Lancet 384(9948), e42–e44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freedman, LP, Ramsey, K, Abuya, T, Bellows, B, Ndwiga, C, Warren, CEet al. (2014) Defining disrespect and abuse of women in childbirth: a research, policy and rights agenda. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 92, 915–917.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gausia, K, Ryder, D, Ali, M, Fisher, C, Moran, A and Koblinsky, M (2012) Obstetric complications and psychological well-being: experiences of Bangladeshi women during pregnancy and childbirth. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition 30(2), 172–180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goli, S, Ganguly, D, Chakravorty, S, Siddiqui, MZ, Ram, H, Rammohan, A and Acharya, SS (2019) Labour room violence in Uttar Pradesh, India: evidence from longitudinal study of pregnancy and childbirth. BMJ Open 9, e028688.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hulton, LA, Matthews, Z and Stones, RW (2007) Applying a framework for assessing the quality of maternal health services in urban India. Social Science & Medicine 64, 2083–2095.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ishola, F, Owolabi, O and Filippi, V (2017) Disrespect and abuse of women during childbirth in Nigeria: a systematic review. PLoS One 12(3), e0174084.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jewkes, R and Penn-Kekana, L (2015) Mistreatment of women in childbirth: time for action on this important dimension of violence against women. PLoS Medicine 12(6), 6–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jha, P, Christensson, K, Skoog Svanberg, A, Larsson, M, Sharma, B and Johansson, E (2016) Cashless childbirth, but at a cost: a grounded theory study on quality of intrapartum care in public health facilities in India. Midwifery 39, 78–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanjilal, B (2011) Quality of underground health care: a case study of Indian RMPs. Paper presented at the Private Sector in Health Pre-Congress Symposium at iHEA 2011, Toronto, Canada, 9th July 2011.Google Scholar
Madhiwalla, N, Ghoshal, R, Mavani, P and Roy, N (2018) Identifying disrespect and abuse in organisational culture: a study of two hospitals in Mumbai, India. Reproductive Health Matters 26(53), 36–47.10.1080/09688080.2018.1502021CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (2005) National Rural Health Mission – Framework for Implementation 2005–2012. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (2017) National Health Policy 2017. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Misago, C, Kendall, C, Freitas, P, Haneda, K, Silveira, D, Onuki, Det al. (2001) From ‘culture of dehumanization of childbirth’ to ‘childbirth as a transformative experience’: changes in five municipalities in north-east Brazil. International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics 75 (Supplement 1), S67–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Health Mission (2017) LaQshya – Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Nawab, T, Erum, U, Amir, A, Khalique, N, Ansari, MA and Chauhan, A (2019) Disrespect and abuse during facility-based childbirth and its sociodemographic determinants. A barrier to healthcare utilization in rural population. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 8(1), 239–245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ng, M, Misra, A, Diwan, V, Agnani, M, Levin-Rector, A and De Costa, A (2014) An assessment of the impact of the JSY cash transfer program on maternal mortality reduction in Madhya Pradesh, India. Global Health Action 7, 24939.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NITI Aayog (2018) Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) (per 100000 live births). Government of India. URL: https://www.niti.gov.in/content/maternal-mortality-ratio-mmr-100000-live-births (accessed 22nd May 2019).Google Scholar
Okafor, II, Ugwu, EO and Obi, SN (2015) Disrespect and abuse during facility-based childbirth in a low-income country. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 128(2), 110–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patel, P, Makadia, K and Kedia, G (2015) Study to assess the extent of disrespect and abuse in facility based child birth among women residing in urban slum area of Ahmedabad. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development 2(8), 25–27.Google Scholar
Raj, A, Dey, A, Boyce, S, Seth, A, Bora, S, Chandurkar, Det al. (2017) Associations between mistreatment by a provider during childbirth and maternal health complications in Uttar Pradesh, India. Maternal and Child Health Journal 21(9), 1821–1833.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
República Bolivariana de Venezuela (2007) Leyorgánica sobre elderecho de lasmujeres a una vida libre de violência. UNFPA, Caracas.Google Scholar
Sadler, M, Santos, MJ, Ruiz-Berdún, D, Rojas, GL, Skoko, E, Gillen, P and Clausen, JA (2016) Moving beyond disrespect and abuse: addressing the structural dimensions of obstetric violence. Reproductive Health Matters 24(47), 47–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sando, D, Ratcliffe, H, McDonald, K, Spiegelman, D, Lyatuu, G, Mwanyika-Sando, Met al. (2016) The prevalence of disrespect and abuse during facility-based childbirth in urban Tanzania. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 16(236), 1–10CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Savage, V and Castro, A (2017) Measuring mistreatment of women during childbirth: a review of terminology and methodological approaches. Reproductive Health 14(138), 1–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shabot, SC (2016) Making loud bodies ‘feminine’: a feminist-phenomenological analysis of obstetric violence. Human Studies 39(2), 231–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, G, Penn-Kekana, L, Halder, K and Filippi, V (2019) An investigation into mistreatment of women during labour and childbirth in maternity care facilities in Uttar Pradesh, India: a mixed methods study. Reproductive Health 16(7), 1–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, S (2010) Urban poor women willing for institutional deliveries but health institutions a turn off: Delhi, India. Proceedings of the 18th International Council of Women’s Health Issues, 2010; Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Storeng, KT and Béhague, DP (2014) ‘Playing the Numbers Game’: evidence-based advocacy and the technocratic narrowing of the safe motherhood initiative. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 28(2), 260–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sudhinaraset, M, Treleaven, E, Melo, J, Singh, K and Diamond-Smith, N (2016) Women’s status and experiences of mistreatment during childbirth in Uttar Pradesh: a mixed methods study using cultural health capital theory. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 16(1), 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
UNDP India (2019) Millenium Development Goals. URL: http://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/post-2015/mdgoverview.html (accessed 22nd May 2019).Google Scholar
Van Hollen, C (2003) Invoking Vali : painful technologies of modern birth in south India. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 17(1), 49–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wassihun, B and Zeleke, S (2018) Compassionate and respectful maternity care during facility based child birth and women’s intent to use maternity service in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 18(1), 294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White Ribbon Alliance (2011) Respectful Maternity Care: The Universal Rights of Childbearing Women. WRA Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Whittemore, R and Knafl, K (2005) The integrative review: updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing 52(5), 546–553.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WHO (2007) Integrating gender into the curricula for health professionals. World Health Organization, Geneva. URL: https://www.who.int/gender/documents/GWH_curricula_web2.pdf (accessed 11th October 2019).Google Scholar
WHO (2015) The Prevention and Elimination of Disrespect and Abuse During Facility-Based Childbirth. World Health Organization, Geneva.Google Scholar
WHO (2017) Mistreatment of Women during Childbirth: A Sad Reality Worldwide. World Health Organization, Geneva. URL: https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/maternal_perinatal/mistreatment-during-childbirth/en/ (accessed 12th June 2019).Google Scholar
WHO (2018) WHO Recommendations: Intrapartum Care for a Positive Childbirth Experience. World Health Organization, Geneva. URL: http://apps.who.int/bookorders (accessed 12th June 2019).Google Scholar
WHO, UNICEF, UNPFA, World Bank Group and United Nations (2015) Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2015. Estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and the United Nations Population Division, Geneva.Google Scholar
Williams, CR, Jerez, C, Klein, K, Correa, M, Belizán, JM and Cormick, G (2018) Obstetric violence: a Latin American legal response to mistreatment during childbirth. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 125(10), 1208–1211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed