Maternal Disrespect and Abuse by Health Care Providers among postpartum women attending Mizan-Tepi University Teaching Hospital, South West Ethiopia

BackgroundIn Ethiopia, only 48% of all births occur at health facilities. Maternal disrespect and abuse by health care providers during child birth is one of the main reasons that affect health care seeking behaviors from health facilities. Thus, this study aims to assess magnitude of maternal disrespect and abuse during institutional delivery among postpartum women at Mizan -Tepi University Teaching Hospital (MTUTH), Bench Sheko Zone, South west Ethiopia MethodsInstitution-based cross-sectional study design was employed. A total of 409 postpartum women were enrolled using systematic random sampling technique between Augusts to September, in 2021. Pre-tested and structured questionnaire used for face-to-face interview. Data were coded, edited, and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done. The presence and strength of association were determined using AOR with its 95% CI. Variables with P value of less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant ResultsAbout half (52.1%) of the postpartum women experienced at least one category of maternal disrespect and abuse during institutional delivery. No formal education status during labor [AOR=2.216; 95% CI:1.266, 3.879], delivery during night shifts [(AOR=2.2; 95% CI: 1.306, 3.772], living in rural area [AOR=3.014;95% CI:1.630,5.572], number of health provider 2-3[AOR=4.101; 95%CI:2.70,6.23] and number of health provider above three[AOR=8.13; 95%CI:2.12,5.62] were found to be strongly associated with reporting maternal disrespect and abuse. ConclusionsThe study highlights that large proportion of mothers are experiencing maternal disrespect and abuse during institutional delivery in this study setting. Thus, appropriate interventions should be designed, focusing on supervision during night shifts, empowering childbearing women about their rights at health facilities and providing training for health care providers about respectful maternity care need to be emphatise.