Peer-reviewed article
Mistreatment of women during childbirth and its determinants: a cross-sectional study in Mazandaran/Iran.
Firouzbakht M, Nikpour M, Sharif-Nia H, Alijanpour M ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined mistreatment of women during childbirth in two maternity hospitals in Mazandaran, Iran. All 215 postpartum women surveyed reported experiencing at least one form of mistreatment, with poor communication and physical abuse being the most common. Older maternal age and the presence of a doula during labour were associated with lower rates of certain types of mistreatment. The findings highlight significant gaps in respectful maternity care in these settings.
Key points
- All 215 women surveyed reported experiencing at least one form of mistreatment during childbirth
- 88.1% experienced poor relationship/communication with service providers; 80.9% experienced physical abuse
- 42% of women experienced three or more types of mistreatment
- Women with doula accompaniment had significantly lower odds of experiencing lack of privacy (OR=2.77) and unmet needs (OR=2.2)
- Overall satisfaction score for maternity care was low at 33.96±9.17
Limitations
This study used convenience sampling which may not be representative of all women delivering in Mazandaran or Iran more broadly. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causation, only associations between factors and mistreatment experiences.
Abstract
Objective This study was designed to investigate the mistreatment of women during childbirth and its determining factors in a selected maternity hospital in Mazandaran/Iran. Design This cross-sectional study was designed in 2024. Setting Maternal and child clinics in the cities of Amol and Babol in Mazandaran/Iran. Precipitants The study population consisted of 215 women who were selected via convenience sampling and were at least 8 weeks postpartum. Results All participants in the study reported experiencing at least one form of mistreatment. 42% of cases experienced three types of mistreatment. The highest reported level of mistreatment was related to the poor relationship between women and service providers (88.1%) and physical abuse (80.9%), respectively. The overall satisfaction score for care was 33.96±9.17. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that higher maternal age was significantly associated with lower odds of physical mistreatment (OR=0.923, 95% CI 0.865 to 0.985, p=0.016). Women without doula accompaniment during childbirth had higher odds of experiencing a lack of privacy compared with those who had a doula (OR=2.77, 95% CI 1.41 to 5.42, p=0.003), and failure to meet needs (OR=2.2; 95% CI 1.13 to 4.28; p=0.020), but significantly lower odds of experiencing poor communication (OR=0.128; 95% CI 0.043 to 0.337; p<0.001). Conclusions The results of this study indicated that the prevalence of mistreatment in participants in the selected hospitals was notable. The most reported mistreatment was the lack of effective communication between staff and the patient, followed by physical mistreatment and the lack of respect for privacy. Factors related to mistreatment included the mother's age and the presence of a companion (doula) during delivery.