Humanised childbirth: the status of emotional support of women in rural Bangladesh

Perkins, Janet; Rahman, Ahmed Ehsanur; Mhajabin, Shema; Siddique, Abu Bakkar; Mazumder, Tapas; Haider, Mohammad Rifat; Arifeen, Shams El

doi:10.1080/26410397.2019.1610277

Cited by 21 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…24 There is not a standardised approach used to ascertain the presence, duration and timing of labour companionship which presents challenges for facilitating comparability between studies. 25 For example, Afulani et al 26 used both a Likert scale and binary yes/no question to ascertain the presence or absence of labour companionship in Kenya among women up to 9 weeks post partum (78.0%, 26.0% and 88.0% during labour, birth and after birth, respectively), Udofia and Akwaowo 27 designed semistructured questionnaire for use among women up to 8 weeks post partum (69.4% during childbirth in Uyo, Nigeria) and Craymah et al 20 used a self-designed survey for women up to 12 weeks post partum and only assessed male labour companionship in Anomabo, Ghana (44.0% during birth). Due to the use of a single, standardised tool across four countries, we were able to establish how labour companionship characteristics varied across countries in our study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Labour companionship and women’s experiences of mistreatment during childbirth: results from a multi-country community-based survey

et al. 2020

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BackgroundEvidence has shown the benefits of labour companions during childbirth. Few studies have documented the relationship between the absence of labour companions and mistreatment of women during childbirth in low-income and middle-income countries using a standardised tool.MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis of the WHO multi-country study on how women are treated during childbirth, where a cross-sectional community survey was conducted with women up to 8 weeks after childbirth in Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Myanmar. Descriptive analysis and multivariable logistic regression were used to examine whether labour companionship was associated with various types of mistreatment.ResultsOf 2672 women, about half (50.4%) reported the presence of a labour companion. Approximately half (49.6%) of these women reported that the timing of support was during labour and after childbirth and most of the labour companions (47.0%) were their family members. Across Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria, women without a labour companion were more likely to report physical abuse, non-consented medical procedures and poor communication compared with women with a labour companion. However, there were country-level variations. In Guinea, the absence of labour companionship was associated with any physical abuse, verbal abuse, or stigma or discrimination (adjusted OR (AOR) 3.6, 1.9–6.9) and non-consented vaginal examinations (AOR 3.2, 1.6–6.4). In Ghana, it was associated with non-consented vaginal examinations (AOR 2.3, 1.7–3.1) and poor communication (AOR 2.0, 1.3–3.2). In Nigeria, it was associated with longer wait times (AOR 0.6, 0.3–0.9).ConclusionLabour companionship is associated with lower levels of some forms of mistreatment that women experience during childbirth, depending on the setting. Further work is needed to ascertain how best to implement context-specific labour companionship to ensure benefits while maintaining women’s choices and autonomy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Labour companionship and women’s experiences of mistreatment during childbirth: results from a multi-country community-based survey

et al. 2020

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“…Male partners' presence as supporters is generally less common, for example it is not allowed in parts of the Middle East [42]. Attendance by male partners at facility births was around 14% in urban Nigeria and about 20% in rural Bangladesh, with the most commonly reported reason for their absence being staff refusal [43,44]. Higher rates have been observed at a university hospital in Nigeria and in India [45,46].…”

Section: Theory Of Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…I shall refer to these factors as the 'supply' of opportunities for men to engage and of a welcoming environment. Surveys show that even where the presence of the male partner at birth is not the norm, such as in Nigeria, Bangladesh and China, many women wish that their partner could or would be with them during labour or birth [41,43,44]. Studies from Ghana and Kenya have shown that women who are wealthier, employed or with higher education are more likely to want and be allowed to have support in labour [39,48].…”

Section: Theory Of Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Male partner participation in maternity care and social support for childbearing women: a discussion paper

Daniele

2021

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Male partners/fathers are key support persons for many childbearing women and their involvement in pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum/postnatal period has beneficial effects on a wide range of outcomes related to maternal and child health and family wellbeing. Social support is implicated in the relevant causal pathway, but has received largely tangential attention in the public health literature. This discussion paper aims to reframe men's participation in maternity care as an opportunity to enhance their readiness and ability to provide social support to women, contributing to the debate on the definition and rationale for male partner involvement, and paving the way for further empirical work. I begin by presenting a theory of change illustrating the causal pathway leading from male partner participation, through the key intermediate step of social support, to improved health and wellbeing for women and children. I proceed by arguing that many people desire male partner participation in maternity care; however, in practice, this is often limited owing to cultural, social and institutional barriers. I use examples from the intervention literature to demonstrate how participation in care can boost men's motivation to support women and enhance their ability to do so by increasing their knowledge and skills. Finally, I draw up general implications for further male partner involvement programmes, suggesting that in order to achieve meaningful and sustainable gains, attention to design is crucial in order to avoid reinforcing patriarchal gender norms. Programmes should be implemented alongside other efforts to improve quality and promote woman-centred care. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Multidisciplinary perspectives on social support and maternal–child health’.

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“…Although we do not have speci c data, other studies conducted in similar settings reported that such social support was provided by a female member of the woman's family, and sometimes a female person outside of the family (38). This is not surprising, given that pregnancy and childbirth are often considered women-centric life transitions (39).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Quality of antenatal care experience in rural Bangladesh: social support, respect, dignity, communication and counselling

Mhajabin

Perkins

Siddique

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background Quality antenatal care (ANC) can contribute to reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Very little information is available on the experience of care during ANC contacts in Bangladesh. This study aims to understand social support received by women, their experience of respect and dignity, and quality of communication and counselling during ANC contacts in rural Bangladesh for improving the quality of ANC services. Methods A cross-sectional household survey was administered in three upazillas (sub-districts) of Bangladesh in 2018. We defined the experience of care as reported by women using three indicators: social support received, respect and dignity experienced, quality of communication and counselling. Associations between explanatory and outcome variables were explored through binary and multiple logistic regression models controlling for background characteristics and health system contacts. Findings: Most women (79%) reported having any social support during their ANC contacts, i.e. someone was present during the ANC contact. More than half the women desired their husbands’ presence during their ANC contact while only one-fourth of the husbands were present. Experiences regarding different aspects of respect and dignity were mixed. Almost all women reported that their visual (94%) and auditory privacy (94%) were maintained. However, only in 58% of the ANC contacts the health service providers sought permission before carrying physical examination. Less than half of the women reported that the health services listened to their problems, assessed the overall situation and encouraged women to take part in the discussion during ANC counselling. After adjusting for background characteristics and other covariates, the odds of experiencing respect and dignity and the odds of receiving quality communication and counselling were significantly higher (AOR 1.9 and 16 respectively at p < 0.5) when the women were accompanied by someone during ANC contact. Conclusion Ensuring quality ANC in Bangladesh required focusing on addressing the existing gaps in the experience of care for a positive pregnancy experience. This study presents the importance of social support in improving the experience of care and suggests further research to identify effective interventions for the integration of quality of care components in this context.

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Humanised childbirth: the status of emotional support of women in rural Bangladesh

Cited by 21 publications

References 35 publications

Labour companionship and women’s experiences of mistreatment during childbirth: results from a multi-country community-based survey

Labour companionship and women’s experiences of mistreatment during childbirth: results from a multi-country community-based survey

Male partner participation in maternity care and social support for childbearing women: a discussion paper

Quality of antenatal care experience in rural Bangladesh: social support, respect, dignity, communication and counselling

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