Respectful maternity care: A national landscape review

Respectful maternity care is a fundamental right of every childbearing woman. It contributes to ensuring a positive outcome for mothers as well as newborns, and aims to address health inequalities. However, studies have reported a high prevalence of disrespect and abuse in India, and have shown that the quality of care has been overlooked at all levels including research, policy, programme and practice. The lack of respectful maternity care results in failure in accessing institutional services. Thus, it is essential to design context-specific and evidence-based interventions as well as formulate policies and programmes to reduce disrespectful maternity care.