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Evidence of ‘obstetric violence’ in India: an integrative review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2019

Surbhi Shrivastava Open the ORCID record for Surbhi Shrivastava [Opens in a new window]  and
Muthusamy Sivakami
Surbhi Shrivastava*
Affiliation:
School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
Muthusamy Sivakami
Affiliation:
School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
*
*Corresponding author. Email: surbhis.1724@gmail.com
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Abstract

The term ‘obstetric violence’ has been used to describe the mistreatment, disrespect and abuse or dehumanized care of women during childbirth by health care providers. This is a review of the existing literature in India on violence against women during childbirth. The review used the typology of Bohren et al. (2015). An internet search of PubMed, Google Scholar and JSTOR was conducted using the terms ‘obstetric violence’, ‘mistreatment’, ‘disrespect and abuse’ and ‘dehumanized care’. Studies based on empirical research on women’s experiences during childbirth in health facilities in India were included in the review. The search yielded sixteen studies: one case study, two ethnographic studies, two mixed-methods studies, three cross-sectional qualitative studies, seven cross-sectional quantitative studies and one longitudinal quantitative study. The studies were analysed using the seven categories of mistreatment outlined by Bohren et al. (2015): 1) physical abuse, (2) sexual abuse, (3) verbal abuse, (4) stigma and discrimination, (5) failure to meet professional standards of care, (6) poor rapport between women and providers, and (7) health system conditions and constraints. An additional category of ‘harmful traditional practices and beliefs’ emerged from the Indian literature, which was also included in the review. Although geographically limited, the selected research highlighted varying prevalences of the different forms of ‘obstetric violence’ in both public and private birth facilities in India. ‘Obstetric violence’ in India was found to be associated with socio-demographic factors, with women of lower social standing experiencing greater levels of mistreatment. In response to this normalized public health issue, a multi-pronged, rights-based framework is proposed that addresses the social, political and structural contexts of ‘obstetric violence’ in India.

Keywords

Obstetric ViolenceMistreatmentMaternal and Child Health
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , July 2020 , pp. 610 - 628
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

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