Women's Lives and Birth Experiences Are Important! Evaluation of Women's Perceptions of Respectful Maternal Care: The Mother-Friendly Hospital Difference.

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The aim of this study is to determine women's perceptions of respectful maternity care, the effect of giving birth in a mother-friendly hospital on this perception and other factors affecting this perception. The philosophy of a mother-friendly hospital includes respectful maternity care. Few quantitative studies have been conducted in Turkey to assess the prevalence of respectful maternity care during childbirth and none have examined the difference between respectful maternity care in mother-friendly and nonmother-friendly hospitals. This descriptive and comparative study was conducted between December 2023 and September 2024 with 319 primiparous women who applied to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Outpatient Clinic of a mother-friendly and a nonmother-friendly hospital in Turkey for postpartum follow-up. The data were collected face-to-face using the Descriptive Characteristics Form and Women's Perception of Respectful Maternity Care Scale. For data analysis, χ2 and independent samples t test methods were used in SPSS 26 program. In the study, a significant difference was obtained between the Perception of Respectful Maternity Care Scale scores of women according to the type of hospital where the birth was performed and the level of education (p < 0.05). The mean scale scores of women who gave birth in a mother-friendly hospital and whose educational level was secondary education and above were higher than other women (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the scale scores of women according to the variables of age, employment status, place of residence, number of pregnancies and the last pregnancy being planned (p > 0.05). It was determined that women's perception of respectful maternity care was highly positive, and the factors affecting this perception were delivery in a mother-friendly hospital and educational level. The current study may contribute to the development of policies for the dissemination of mother-friendly practices and the provision of respectful birth services, and may also support efforts to improve the quality of care.