Narratives of Mistreatment and Coercion in Maternity Care: An Interpretive Description Qualitative Analysis

To describe and classify mistreatment during maternity care as described by a diverse set of women across the United States.

Interpretive description qualitative analysis.

Qualitative data were collected via a web-based survey (n = 1151) and in semi-structured interviews (n = 25).

Adult women with a history of caesarean who had a subsequent birth (of any mode) in the United States in the 5 years preceding study participation.

Deductive Content Analysis was employed using a priori codes based on Bohren et al.'s Typology of Mistreatment of Women during Childbirth framework.

Participants described all eight types of mistreatment. Marginalised participants, who are most at risk for adverse maternal and infant birth outcomes, were also the most likely to describe experiences of mistreatment during their maternity care. Consequences of mistreatment in maternity care described by participants included healthcare system distrust, reduced postpartum healthcare utilisation and maternal mental health complications.

Participants experienced mistreatment in their interactions with their maternity care team. Oftentimes, these same situations may have been perceived as benign or routine from the clinicians' perspectives.