TITLE:
A Quality Improvement Project to Improve the Birth Experience of Maternity Clients through Educating Providers on Respectful Maternity Care
AUTHORS:
Judith April Dollins
KEYWORDS:
Respectful Maternity Care, Mistreatment or Abuse during Childbirth, Obstetric Violence, Quality Improvement, Person-Centered Care, Maternity or Antepartum or Intrapartum
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.10 No.8,
August
18,
2023
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Disrespect and mistreatment during pregnancy and childbirth has been widely reported. Objective: To improve the birth experience of maternity clients through educating maternity providers on Respectful Maternity Care. Study Design: Quasi-experimental, Mixed Method research design was used to identify the levels of autonomy and respect maternity clients perceived during their labor and delivery experience. Participants: Maternity staff and providers, Maternity clients who were clients of and delivered by delivering providers from Mercy OB/GYN. Results: Matched pair t-tests were used to evaluate the staff and providers’ knowledge and understanding of respectful maternity practices prior to and following an educational session. Independent 2-sample t-test was utilized to evaluate the maternity clients’ perception of respectful care during their labor and delivery process. Conclusions: Labor and delivery staff demonstrated an increase in knowledge and understanding of respectful maternity care practices. The increase in the reported levels of autonomy and respect was not statistically significant.