Respectful care of newborns after childbirth globally: a systematic review

BackgroundEnsuring that mothers and newborns receive respectful care is crucial to providing high-quality care. Our research aimed to describe the care received by neonates and identify risk variables for Disrespect and Abuse (D&A) in neonates.MethodsWe carried out a comprehensive analysis of published, quantitative research on D&A on newborns. The databases of SCOPUS, Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, ProQuest, and Cochrane Library were thoroughly searched for articles. The quality of the research was assessed using the STROBE measures. Studies meeting certain requirements were eligible for inclusion: they had to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors associated with the mistreatment of newborns after childbirth; finally, 525 potentially relevant articles were carefully reviewed, and only 10 were ultimately selected.ResultSix prospective cohort studies, one retrospective cohort study, two cross-sectional studies, and one mixed-method research comprised the 10 papers that made up this review. In included studies infants had experienced at least one D&A episode. We have divided them into two categories: indicators of disrespect and factors affecting disrespect. Indicators of disrespect were the major contributing factor to D&A. According to this review, some maternal and newborn factors contributed to the D&A of newborns: preterm births, female deliveries assisted by an instrument, rural births, mothers living in rural areas, births with parity greater than 2, and unmarried birth mothers.ConclusionHealth systems must be confident that no neonate is denied medical care due to family socio-economic and cultural factors. This study can inform future research around interventions for improving policy and practice.