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Abuse during childbirth (or obstetric violence) is the neglect, physical abuse and lack of respect during childbirth. This treatment is regarded as a violation of the woman's rights. It also has the affect of preventing women from seeking pre-natal care and using other health care services. Abuse during childbirth is one form of violence against women.

Investigations into the prevalence of these practices have been conducted by the World Health Organization. Their studies demonstrate that this is a global problem. Women experience disrespectful, abusive or neglectful treatment during their childbirth when the birth occurs in medical and health facilities. The abusive relationship and trust between women and health providers can create a great reluctance to obtain medical assistance during birth. Disrespectful and abusive treatment can be experienced during pregnancy. During childbirth, a woman is very vulnerable and cannot protect herself. The results of this abuse can have very negative consequences for the infant and the mother.

When determining if a woman has experienced abuse during childbirth, there are a few overarching subjects that are taken into account across studies. physical abuse, non-consented care, non-confidential care, non-dignified care, discrimination, abandonment of care and detention in facilities. Physical abuse attributes to hitting, pinching, restraining, not given pain-relief medication and even rape/sexual assault. Non-consented care refers to caesarean sections, sterilization, did not explain procedures before doing them etc. Non-confidential care means that the woman was exposed or discloses any personal medical information without consent. Non-dignified care refers to a provider being scolding, threatening, negative or discouraging. Discrimination with in this context refers to refusing care because of age, medical background, or cultural/language background. Abandonment of care is when a provider is absent, ignoring the patient or denied companionship from loved ones. Lastly, detention in facilities refers to when provides will not let a patient leave because of outstanding balances, unpaid bribes etc.

Some women are more likely to experience abuse during childbirth. Adolescents, migrant women, women infected with HIV, and ethnic minority women are more likely than others to receive abuse.

The term "obstetric violence" is particularly used in Latin American countries, where the law prohibits such behavior. Such laws exist in several countries, including Argentina, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

"Obstetric violence" is a term used for Abuse during childbirth.

Countries
Some sources refer to North American obstetricians and gynecologists, especially between the 1950s and 1980s, practicing what was called the husband's stitch: placing extra stitches in the woman's vagina after the episiotomy or natural tearing, supposedly to increase the husband's future sexual pleasure and often causing long-term pain and discomfort to the woman. However, there is no proof that such a practice was widespread in North America, but mentions of it frequently appear in studies about episiotomy, also in other American countries such as Brazil. There is a more recent highlight on the patterns of North American doctors treatment with pregnant women. The idea that there is a "redressing" of obstetric violence and that women's right of choice is compromised in some situations. Although a woman's and the fetus's life is endangered, the woman has the right to refuse care; cesarean section, episiotomy, vacuum-assisted delivery and the list goes on. Being coerced into having these invasive procedures has been found to cause long lasting damage; many women compare the experience to rape.

Mexico is a country in which there is some research on obstetric violence. In 2012, Rosario Santiago and others looked at two public hospitals in Mexico, and analyzed the birthing experiences for a month. What was found is that there was physical, verbal abuse and discrimination happening openly. The women with government assisted insurance were most subject to discrimination from the healthcare professionals.

Tanzania is a country with concern on abuse on women during childbirth. In 2011, Shannon McMahon and others explored whether or not the supposed interventions to lower abuse during childbirth have been in effect. When interviewing women, they referred to their experiences as neutral or better. However, after being shown the different aspects of abuse, a overwhelming majority of the women in turn had actually experienced abuse during childbirth. In 2014, Hannah Ratcliffe and others did a study to explore possible interventions to improve the experiences of disrespect and abuse during childbirth. This study was conducted between 2013 and 2014. They implemented a "open birth day" which was to facilitate communication between patients and providers and to educate on the procedures surrounding birth. Aside from open birth day, they also implemented a "respectful maternity care workshop" which was to help create conversation surrounding respect between staff and towards patients. What they found was that this approach was successful in helping reconstruct systems without being high in cost. There was an increase of 60% in satisfaction with women's delivery experience. During the same time as Ratcliffe's study, Stephanie Kujawaki and others did a comparative study of before intervention to reduce childbirth abuse and after. The baseline for the study was conducted in 2011-2012 and the final half of the study was conducted in 2015. What they found is that there was a 66% reduction in experiencing abuse and disrespect during childbirth. This study shows that with community and health system reforms can change and reshape norms in which women are mistreated during childbirth.