Childbirth: one in three women in low and middle income countries reports being mistreated

Over a third of women in four low and middle income countries have experienced mistreatment around the time of childbirth, a study has found.1

The research, led by the World Health Organization, included women aged 15 or over at 12 health facilities in Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar, and Nigeria from September 2016 to January 2018.

In many cases women had experienced physical or verbal abuse and or not been asked for consent for procedures such as caesarean section. In some cases women or their babies had been detained in facilities because they were unable to pay the healthcare bill.

The findings echo those of a …