The Giving Voice to Mothers study: inequity and mistreatment during pregnancy and childbirth in the United States.
Ensuring safe, high-quality maternity care is a patient safety priority. This cross-sectional study of 2,138 women in the United States found that one in six women reported experiencing mistreatment during maternity care. Researchers found that women of color and women giving birth in hospitals (versus at home) were more likely to experience mistreatment. The most common forms of mistreatment were being yelled at or scolded by a health care provider, being ignored, violations of physical privacy, and threats to withhold treatment or being forced to accept treatment they did not want.