One in four women in France report disrespectful care during childbirth

A quarter of women who gave birth in metropolitan France and were surveyed reported that they were treated disrespectfully during childbirth and/or while staying in the hospital after giving birth. 

Among the 7,332 women surveyed in the Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica study, 1,888 reported that they experienced words, gestures, or attitudes that shocked, offended, or made them feel uncomfortable from health care professionals. They were more frequently nulliparous, had a high education level, a birth plan, and an instrumental or cesarean birth. Women with psychiatric history or prenatal psychological distress were also more likely to experience disrespectful care.

Disrespectful care was also reported more frequently when women breastfed. 

"Professionals should welcome women's birth plans as a means of communicating their wishes and should treat them with respect, even when medical complications arise," the authors wrote. "This study highlights the need for the healthcare system to further develop training for healthcare professionals and consider a thorough overhaul of its functioning to foster an environment where more women experience respectful maternity care."