User:Afitz7/Abuse during childbirth/Erinsalomon Peer Review

General info

 * Whose work are you reviewing?

Afitz7


 * Link to draft you're reviewing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Afitz7/Abuse_during_childbirth?veaction=edit&preload=Template%3ADashboard.wikiedu.org_draft_template
 * Link to the current version of the article (if it exists)

Evaluate the drafted changes
Hi! I've added my edits in bold and here are some final remarks:


 * Your wiki page has some great content. It was a very interesting read. I learned something new.
 * There are a couple of aspects that are repetitive throughout the page. I recommend cutting down on those
 * I tried to reorder some of the starting paragraphs so they flow a bit better. Let me know what you think.
 * I also see that some of your citations are off but I know this is just a rough draft too so I wanted to make a quick note of that.
 * If you are separating you page based on location, I recommend adding a title for the other locations you listed (Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar, and Nigeria) or just added the applicable ones to your "Africa" title
 * I also think more elaborate title could be helpful to know what the following paragraph is going to be about
 * I really liked that there are a decent amount of statistics. Its a great way to add credibility to your page. If you have more with reliable sources, add them! They also add perspective for the reader.
 * If you have any other questions or want me to review it again later, just let me know. (salomon.e@northeastern.edu)
 * Overall, great job :)

Abuse during childbirth (also referred to as obstetric violence) is the mistreatment of women during childbirth, in the form(s) of neglect, physical abuse, and/or lack of respect. This mistreatment is regarded as a form of violence against women and a violation of women's rights. I moved this to here because I think it flows better: Abuse during childbirth can occur over a wide spectrum and may be seen in the forms of non-confidential care, non-dignified care, discrimination, overt physical abuse, non-consented care, abandonment of care, and detention in facilities. (keep 2 citation)It is a recurring issue in facilities around the globe per World Health Organization studies (insert a citation to the studies), and can have serious consequences (what are the consequences?) for mother and infant. I moved this to here because I think it flows better:The World Health Organization notes that abuse during childbirth has yet to be conclusively defined or measured in a scientific way. However, abuse during childbirth is generally defined as neglectful, physically abusive, and/or disrespectful treatment from healthcare professionals towards patients in childbirth. Such mistreatment is regarded as a violation of the woman's human rights. (keep 1 citation) For example, abuse during childbirth has resulted in women being hesitant to seek pre-natal care and use other healthcare services in the future (such as?). Further examples of abuse during childbirth include non-consented care, non-confidential care, non-dignified care, discrimination, abandonment of care, and detention in facilities.(2 citation) Adolescents, women who are unmarried, women of low socio-economic status, migrant women, women infected with HIV, and ethnic minority women are at a greater risk of experiencing abuse during childbirth.(1 citation)

Non-confidential care means that the woman was physically exposed to others in the facility or had personal medical information disclosed to others without her consent. Non-dignified care refers to a provider scolding, threatening, or discouraging the patient in childbirth. Discrimination within this context refers to refusing to provide care because of the age, medical background, or cultural/language background of the patient. Non-consented care occurs when medical procedures, such as caesarean sections or sterilizations, are not explained fully before they are performed. Physical abuse includes hitting, pinching, restraining, withholding of pain-relief medication, and even rape or sexual assault. Abandonment of care is when a provider is absent, or else the patient is ignored or denied companionship from loved ones. Lastly, detention in facilities refers to when providers will not let a patient leave because of outstanding balances, unpaid bribes etc. (keep 2 citation) '''Great paragraph. To the point and I do not detect any bias.'''

Investigations into the prevalence (why is this word linked?) of abusive practices in childbirth have been conducted by the World Health Organization (I don't think you need to link WHO again. Just show the abbreviation when you first mention it then you can refer to it as WHO). Their studies (Link the studies you are referring to. Maybe include some statistics from it?) demonstrate that women giving birth in medical facilities experience disrespectful, abusive, and/or neglectful treatment frequently and globally. (3 citation)

A 2020 study (Link the study. I like the reference to the stats and good job including the data of the study as it is very relevant and recent) centered in Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar, and Nigeria (linking these locations could be beneficial) found that more than 40% of observed women and 35% of surveyed women experienced mistreatment while in childbirth. Furthermore, adolescents, migrant women, women infected with HIV, and ethnic minority (I would put these links when they first show up in paragraph one) women were deemed more likely than others to experience abuse during childbirth.

Women in childbirth are very vulnerable and often cannot protect themselves against mistreatment (do you have a source backing this up?), so the consequences of obstetric violence can be serious for both the mother and the child (little repetitive). The abusive relationship that forms between a woman and her healthcare providers as a result of abuse during childbirth often leads to the woman developing a general mistrust in healthcare services. Furthermore, consequences can be extended to include a reluctance to seek pre-natal care, medical assistance during childbirth, and general health care services in the future (bit repetitive) .(1, 10, and 3 citations)

North and South America (if you are separating by location, I would add a title for Ghana, Guinea etc)
Some sources refer to North American obstetricians and gynecologists (link these words), especially between the 1950s and 1980s, practicing what was called "the husband's stitch," which involves placing extra stitches in the woman's vagina after the episiotomy or the natural tearing that occurs during childbirth. This procedure was supposedly performed to increase the husband's future sexual pleasure and often caused long-term pain and discomfort for the woman. There is no proof that such a practice was widespread in North America, but mentions of it frequently appear in studies about episiotomy in certain American countries such as Brazil.

There has been a more recent highlight (? fix wording) on North American doctors' treatment of pregnant women in childbirth. The growing idea is that there has been a "redressing" of obstetric violence and that women's right to choice has been compromised in some situations. In instances where the lives of the woman and the fetus are endangered, the woman has the right to refuse care through procedures such as a caesarean section, episiotomy, or vacuum-assisted delivery. Women are often coerced into having these invasive procedures, despite the fact that such coercion has been found to cause long lasting damage with many women comparing the experience to rape.

The term "obstetric violence" is particularly used in Latin American countries, where the law prohibits such mistreatment. These laws exist in several Latin American countries, including Argentina, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. '''Really interesting point. Is there any way you could elaborate more or find more sources pertaining to this or other country that follow the same laws?'''

Research into obstetric violence at two public hospitals in Mexico analyzing the birthing experiences for one month of 2012 found that physical abuse, verbal abuse, and discrimination occurred openly throughout the facilities. Women receiving government assisted insurance were subjected to the most discrimination from the healthcare professionals.

Africa (if you are separating by location, I would add a title for Ghana, Guinea etc)
Tanzania is an African country with a history of abuse during childbirth. In 2011, Shannon McMahon add a link to this person and others explored whether or not the supposed interventions to decrease the prevalence of abuse during childbirth had been effective. When interviewing women, they initially referred to their experiences as neutral or better. However, after being shown the different aspects of abuse, an overwhelming majority of the women actually reported experiencing abuse during childbirth. In 2013-2014, Hannah Ratcliffe add a link to this person too and others formed a study to explore possible interventions to improve the experiences of women in childbirth. They implemented an "open birth day" which facilitated communication between patients and providers and educated them on the procedures surrounding birth. The team also implemented a "respectful maternity care workshop" meant to create conversation surrounding respect between health care staff and patients. What they found was that this approach was successful in helping reconstruct systems without costing much. There was an increase of 60% in satisfaction with women's delivery experience. During the same time period as Ratcliffe's study, Stephanie Kujawaki add a link to this person too and others did a comparative study on births with and without interventions. 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 abuse and disrespect during childbirth after interventions. This study shows that community and health system reforms can help change and reshape norms in which women are mistreated during childbirth.