Women\u2019s empowerment and experiences of mistreatment during childbirth in facilities in Lucknow, India: results from a cross-sectional study

Nadia Diamond-Smith,Nirmala Murthy,May Sudhinaraset,Emily Treleaven

doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1501-7

Abstract

BackgroundRecent evidence has found widespread reports of women experiencing abuse, neglect, discrimination, and poor interpersonal care during childbirth around the globe. Empowerment may be a protective mechanism for women against facility mistreatment during childbirth. The majority of previous research on mistreatment during childbirth has been qualitative in nature.MethodsIn this analysis, we use quantitative data from 392 women who recently gave birth in a facility in the slums of Lucknow, India, to explore whether measures of women’s empowerment are associated with their experiences of mistreatment at their last childbirth. We use the Gender Equitable Men (GEM) scale to measure women’s views of gender equality.ResultsWe find that women who had more equitable views about the role of women were less likely to report experiencing mistreatment during childbirth. These findings suggest that dimensions of women’s empowerment related to social norms about women’s value and role are associated with experiences of mistreatment during childbirth.ConclusionsThis expands our understanding of empowerment and women’s health, and also suggests that the GEM scale can be used to measure certain domains of empowerment from a women’s perspective in this setting.

Highlights

Recent evidence has found widespread reports of women experiencing abuse, neglect, discrimination, and poor interpersonal care during childbirth around the globe
The largest caste subgroup was other backward castes (OBC), who made up 40.56% (N = 159) of the women, followed by 33.42% (N = 131) being scheduled caste, 14.29% being other, and 11.73 (N = 46) being scheduled tribe
In addition to our findings on the relationship between women’s normative views about the status of women, as measured by the Gender Equitable Men (GEM) scale, and women’s perceptions of mistreatment during childbirth, this study provides insight into the norms about gender equality among young women living in slums in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Summary

Introduction

Recent evidence has found widespread reports of women experiencing abuse, neglect, discrimination, and poor interpersonal care during childbirth around the globe. More educated women may have higher expectations around birth, leading to a higher likelihood of reporting mistreatment [5] These rates of disrespectful care suggest mistreatment during delivery is not uncommon, which merits further examination, especially to understand the mechanisms through which it occurs and factors that may predispose or protect women. The degree to which an individual woman is empowered is determined by cognitive, psychological, economic, social, and political factors at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and ecological levels [9] These same factors drive her ability to access health care [10, 11], including facility delivery, and likely influence her experiences within the facility

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion