Women’s perception of obstetric violence in the pregnancy-puerperal cycle: a scoping review

Abstract

Introduction: Obstetric violence is a type of gender violence, characterized by any type of abuse suffered by women during pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium. Portugal has an average of obstetric violence three times higher than the European average. This is a topic that only began to be investigated in this century, especially in the last decade. However, most investigations carried out regarding obstetric violence are related to health professionals and are not from women’s perception. The focus of health care should not be institutions and professionals’ routines, but the well-being of women and their significant others. So, approaching obstetric violence from the perspective of women is a pertinent area of study. Objective: Map the evidence on how women perceive obstetric violence during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium. Methodology: Scoping Review, according to the method proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute, based on the research question “How is obstetric violence perceived by women during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium?”. Scientific articles were searched, where only studies published in Portuguese, English and Spanish were considered. Articles were searched and screened from 9 databases (CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE Complete, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews,« and MedicLatina), with 15 articles being included, to which 4 from gray literature were associated. Results: The main perceptions felt by women about obstetric violence are: Maneuvers and/or hospital protocols, consented or not; verbal abuse and humiliation/disrespect; negligence/abandonment/lack of sensitivity by professionals; restriction on the presence of acompanion; lack of knowled geregarding OV and also thelack of respect for women’s options. Conclusions: Episodes of obstetric violence are common throughout the pregnancy-puerperal cycle, but the perception of puerperal women is unusual and their lack of knowledge of the term is confirmed, which contributes to making it an undervalued subject, despite the repercussions that it may have in their own well-being.