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.
Cite this paper
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