Proportion of Disrespectful and Abusive Care during Childbirth among Women in Khartoum State-2016

Awatif Altahir^1, , Asma Abd Alaal¹, Amal Mohammed¹ and Dalya Eltayeb²

¹Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, al-qasr road, Khartoum, Sudan

²Maternal and Child Health Directorate-PHC General Directorate, Federal Ministry of Health, Nile Street, Khartoum, Sudan

Cite this paper

Awatif Altahir, Asma Abd Alaal, Amal Mohammed and Dalya Eltayeb. Proportion of Disrespectful and Abusive Care during Childbirth among Women in Khartoum State-2016. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2018; 6(6):237-242. doi: 10.12691/AJPHR-6-6-1

Abstract

The access to good quality hospital care during childbirth has been identified as a key strategy in increasing maternal and infant survival. In spite of that, home delivery was 79.5% according to the Sudan 2010 Household Survey. Previous evidence tells that one of the major factors deterring pregnant women from delivering at a health facility is disrespectful and abusive treatment by the health care providers. This study attempted to measure the proportion of disrespectful and abusive care (D&A) during childbirth among women in Khartoum state in 2016 and to determine the types of D&A within selected health facilities. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in three hospitals in Khartoum State, Sudan. The distribution of the sample to health facilities was made proportionately based on the number of clients who received childbirth services at each facility. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, 263 mothers were interviewed in which the disrespect and abuse during childbirth was measured under seven categories using 15 performance indicators that were pre-set by Bowser & Hill’s landscape analysis. Respondents who experienced at least one category of D&A were 77.2%. The proportion of women who had a low, medium and high level of D&A was 39.3%, 32.3% and 5.6% respectively. The most common categories of D&A were found to be Non-confidential care (79.8%), Non-consented care (71.5%) & Abandonment of care (21.7%). The proportion of D&A during childbirth is very high, these findings should alert all stakeholders who aim at reducing maternal mortality. Presence of protocols that regulate respectful and non-abusive care was identified but these results raise the question of adherence to protocols; therefore, health administrators should study and validate these protocols and their proper implementation.

Keywords

disrespect, abuse, childbirth, Sudan, Khartoum

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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