Module 04:
Promoting Respectful Maternity and Newborn Care
Welcome to the fourth module in the ERMC course. This module has been developed to further your knowledge of the consequences of disrespectful care for women during labor and birth and ways to promote ERMC. A list of resource requirements to promote ERMC is also provided, as well as an example of a case scenario of providing ERMC. Finally, this module will end with a post-course completion survey that includes reflection on equity and respect in maternity care.
Module 04:
Promoting Respectful Maternity and Newborn Care
Welcome to the fourth module in the ERMC course. This module has been developed to further your knowledge of the consequences of disrespectful care for women during labor and birth and ways to promote ERMC. A list of resource requirements to promote ERMC is also provided, as well as an example of a case scenario of providing ERMC. Finally, this module will end with a post-course completion survey that includes reflection on equity and respect in maternity care.
Reflection of the Actions
Recall and reflect on one of the situations where you have witnessed disrespectful or abusive care to women during your clinical experience. Please complete the assignment using the five phases of reflection detailed on the next page. Be sure to review the additional guidelines for structuring your assignment, also found on the following page. You’ve got this!
If any of you have not witnessed disrespectful or abusive care during your clinical placement, please complete the assignment based on the given scenario.
You are working in the Maternity unit. You were assigned Mrs. Geeta, who was in the active phase of labor. She was alone on the bed and seemed restless because of pain. One of the midwives came towards her, putting on gloves on her hand, and performed a vaginal examination after her consent. She communicated the findings to her and then recorded them in the report. After one hour, another midwife came to perform a vaginal examination. Mrs. Geeta was persistently saying that another midwife just performed the vaginal examination.
However, the midwife performed the procedure without listening to her and scolded her in front of other staff and a student nurse, saying, “Are you a midwife or me? Do not interfere with me. If you do not like what I am doing, go and give birth in your own home”. Mrs. Geeta felt so embarrassed and asked her mother to return home to give birth. She told her mother that she did not want to give birth in a place where she was scolded in front of others. Her mother requested the staff to make a discharge and took Mrs. Geeta home.