Obstetric violence in the daily routine of care and its characteristics.
Danúbia Mariane Barbosa Jardim, Celina Maria Modena
PMID 30517571WHAT IT FOUND
Women reported unnecessary interventions, humiliation, withheld information and lack of consent during maternity care.
Nurses should treat consent, clear information and birth-plan respect as core care.
Key findings
01The review identified different forms of obstetric violence, including routine unnecessary interventions, verbal abuse or humiliation, inadequate facilities, procedures without permission after information, and discrimination.
02Survey data cited in the review reported 53.5% episiotomy, 52% cesarean sections without justification, 74.8% fasting and 55.7% bed restriction among 23,894 women.
03Most included publications were low-level evidence: 62.5% were single descriptive or qualitative studies and 37.5% were expert opinion.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a review of published studies, not a new patient study, so it cannot show that any prevention strategy reduces harm. The included evidence was mostly low level: 62.5% of publications were single descriptive or qualitative studies and 37.5% were expert opinion. The search included only Portuguese, English or Spanish publications from 2007 to 2017 and excluded case reports and editorials, so relevant work may have been missed. The authors say they could not obtain data from services in the supplementary health network, so the review may not cover private or supplemental maternity care.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as high-quality evidence that nurses are the main perpetrators or that consent training prevents harm. It is a descriptive review of mostly low-level published reports, and it tests no intervention.