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Breaking the silence about obstetric violence: Body mapping women’s narratives of respect, disrespect and abuse during childbirth in Bihar, India

Breaking the silence about obstetric violence: Body mapping women’s narratives of respect, disrespect and abuse during childbirth in Bihar, India
Breaking the silence about obstetric violence: Body mapping women’s narratives of respect, disrespect and abuse during childbirth in Bihar, India
Abstract Background Evidence on obstetric violence is reported globally. In India, research shows that almost every woman goes through some level of disrespect and abuse during childbirth, more so in states such as Bihar where over 70% of women give birth in hospitals. Objective 1) To understand how women experience and attach meaning to respect, disrespect and abuse during childbirth; and 2) document women’s expectations of respectful care. Methods ‘Body mapping’, an arts-based participatory method, was applied. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with eight women who participated in the body mapping exercise at their homes in urban slums and rural villages. Analysis was guided by feminist relational discourse analysis. Findings Women reported their experiences of birthing at home, public facilities, and private hospitals in simple terms of what they felt ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Good experiences included being spoken to nicely, respecting privacy, companion of choice, a bed to rest, timely care, lesser interventions, obtaining consent for vaginal examination and cesarean section, and better communication. Bad experiences included unconsented interventions including multiple vaginal examinations by different care providers, unanesthetized episiotomy, repairs and uterine exploration, verbal, physical, sexual abuse, extortion, detention and lack of privacy. Discussion The body maps capturing birth experiences, created through a participatory method, accurately portray women’s respectful and disrespectful births and are useful to understand women’s experience of a sensitive issue in a patriarchal culture. An in-depth understanding of women’s choices, experiences and expectations can inform changes practices in and policies and help to develop a culture of sharing birth experiences.
figshare
Sandall, Jane
77437928-6256-49db-ba7d-13722d6917d7
Matthews, Zoë
ebaee878-8cb8-415f-8aa1-3af2c3856f55
Padmadas, Sabu S.
64b6ab89-152b-48a3-838b-e9167964b508
Mayra, Kaveri
26fbb2ee-a058-46cf-a8cc-c527d88da0b5
Sandall, Jane
77437928-6256-49db-ba7d-13722d6917d7
Matthews, Zoë
ebaee878-8cb8-415f-8aa1-3af2c3856f55
Padmadas, Sabu S.
64b6ab89-152b-48a3-838b-e9167964b508
Mayra, Kaveri
26fbb2ee-a058-46cf-a8cc-c527d88da0b5

(2022) Breaking the silence about obstetric violence: Body mapping women’s narratives of respect, disrespect and abuse during childbirth in Bihar, India. figshare doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5949793 [Dataset]

Record type: Dataset

Abstract

Abstract Background Evidence on obstetric violence is reported globally. In India, research shows that almost every woman goes through some level of disrespect and abuse during childbirth, more so in states such as Bihar where over 70% of women give birth in hospitals. Objective 1) To understand how women experience and attach meaning to respect, disrespect and abuse during childbirth; and 2) document women’s expectations of respectful care. Methods ‘Body mapping’, an arts-based participatory method, was applied. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with eight women who participated in the body mapping exercise at their homes in urban slums and rural villages. Analysis was guided by feminist relational discourse analysis. Findings Women reported their experiences of birthing at home, public facilities, and private hospitals in simple terms of what they felt ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Good experiences included being spoken to nicely, respecting privacy, companion of choice, a bed to rest, timely care, lesser interventions, obtaining consent for vaginal examination and cesarean section, and better communication. Bad experiences included unconsented interventions including multiple vaginal examinations by different care providers, unanesthetized episiotomy, repairs and uterine exploration, verbal, physical, sexual abuse, extortion, detention and lack of privacy. Discussion The body maps capturing birth experiences, created through a participatory method, accurately portray women’s respectful and disrespectful births and are useful to understand women’s experience of a sensitive issue in a patriarchal culture. An in-depth understanding of women’s choices, experiences and expectations can inform changes practices in and policies and help to develop a culture of sharing birth experiences.

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More information

Published date: 15 April 2022

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 456078
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/456078
PURE UUID: 3dd93a77-e189-477f-904a-f46b993cbf5e
ORCID for Zoë Matthews: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1533-6618
ORCID for Sabu S. Padmadas: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6538-9374

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Date deposited: 25 Apr 2022 17:00
Last modified: 24 Jan 2024 02:38

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Contributors

Contributor: Jane Sandall
Contributor: Zoë Matthews ORCID iD
Contributor: Sabu S. Padmadas ORCID iD
Contributor: Kaveri Mayra

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