There are increasing concerns regarding the quality of care afforded to women in public maternal health facilities in South Africa. There have been reports of human rights violations committed by midwives in state services, including verbal and physical abuse, lack of informed consent and routine humiliation of patients during labour and childbirth. There is, however, a paucity of qualitative research that has documented women's stories of birth and maternal health care in this context. This article explores 48 childbirth stories gathered by a non-governmental organisation in the Western Cape region of South Africa. A thematic narrative analysis of the women's accounts of their childbirth experiences in public health care facilities is provided. It was found that two thirds of women (n=32) reported a negative childbirth experience with most of these reported as very bad experiences (n=22). One third of the women reported a positive birth experience (n=14) characterised by supportive caregivers. Themes of abuse, dehumanisation, disrespect and neglect, however, dominated most of the women's accounts of giving birth within public maternal health services in the Western Cape, South Africa.