Obstetric violence experienced during child birth in Taif city, Saudi Arabia

Background: Mistreatment during child birth leads to adverse maternal and obstetric outcomes. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate obstetric violence in Saudi maternal health-care settings. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the post-natal clinics of maternity hospital of King Faisal medical complex and Al-Hada armed forces hospital, Taif city, Saudi Arabia. Participants were recruited after thorough non-probability consecutive sampling technique. Data on socio demographic and maternal characteristics, obstetric violence and experience of last delivery were collected. Results: The data of three hundred and fifty eight participants were analysed. The mean (SD) age of women who participated in this study was 33.14 (7.17) years. Around forty seven percent of the study participants responded that staff members did not allow the presence of any relative during child birth. The most predominant physical abuse reported were staff members were not gentle/painful vaginal examination during child birth (24.9%), followed by staff members who pressed abdomen forcefully during child birth (21.8%), and those who stitched the episiotomy without anesthesia (13.4%). Related to non-confidential care, staff members discussed their private health information in public (11.5%) and to others/relatives (10.1%). There were sixty-eight (19%) of women who responded that staff members did episiotomy without consent. Around seventy percent of the study participants rated their experience of their last delivery as excellent or good. Conclusion: Non-dignified care was experienced by women during pregnancy as an invasive procedure and medication was not necessarily used, confidentiality was breached, they faced physical violence to a considerable extent and pregnant women's needs were neglected.