The magnitude of the problem of obstetric violence and its associated factors: A cross-sectional study

In recent years, the concept of obstetric violence has become visible among women and professionals, but its prevalence and the factors with which it is related in our healthcare environment are unknown.

To determine the prevalence of obstetric violence in the Spanish healthcare system and identify the associated factors.

A cross-sectional observational study was conducted during 2019 and included 899 women who had given birth in the last 12 months. An online questionnaire was distributed through midwives and women associations in Spain. The questionnaire included sociodemographic, clinical, and assistance practices variables. The primary outcome variable was obstetric violence and its verbal, physical, and psycho-affective types. Crude odds ratios (OR) and adjusted OR (ORa) were estimated using binary logistic regression.

Obstetric violence was reported by 67.4% (606) of the women; 25.1% (226) verbal, 54.5% (490) physical, and 36.7% (330) psycho-affective. Overall obstetric violence was observed more frequently in women who attended maternal education programme (ORa 1.56, 95% CI 1.05-2.32), those who presented a birth plan but it was not respected (ORa 2.82, 95% CI 1.27-6.29), those who received regional analgesia (ORa 1.61, 95% CI 1.13-2.30), those who required an urgent caesarean section (ORa 3.46, 95% CI 1.79-6.69), underwent an episiotomy (ORa 3.34, 95% CI 2.21-5.38), and whose newborn was admitted to an intensive care unit (ORa 2.73, 95% CI: 1.21-6.15). The presentation of a birth plan was observed as protective factors, and the possibility of skin-to-skin (ORa 0.34, 95% CI 0.18-0.62) and felt respected (ORa 0.61, 95% CI 0.43-0.85).

Two out of three women perceive having suffered obstetric violence during childbirth. Practices such as skin-to-skin contact, and the use of respected birth plans, were protective factors against obstetric violence.