Portugal
Obstetric violence is a multifactorial concept involving several actors, namely health professionals, parturient women and health institutions, with direct influence on its definition and understanding.
Objective: The objective of this review was to present a holistic perspective of this concept through the research and analysis of empirical studies conducted with healthcare professionals (e.g., nurses, physicians, among others) and parturient women.
Methods: The methodology used was a scoping review. To this end, an attempt was made to define the basic concepts. In the specific case of this study, only one was defined: Obstetric violence. The search was conducted in the Scopus, Web of Science and B-on platforms.
Results: As a result, 18 studies were identified and included in this review, according to the defined inclusion criteria.
Conclusions: It was found that the studies could be grouped around three perspectives: that of the parturient woman, that of the health professionals and that of the institutions. They also point to the lack of information and the failure to obtain informed consent, the use of derogatory discourse, the use of physical, verbal and psychological abuse, the violation of women's rights, the lack of training and humanization on the part of some health professionals, and limitations on health institutions and services. In this sense, these are also the factors which are most identified as being related to obstetric violence.
Background: Obstetric violence is a multifactorial concept involving several actors, namely health professionals, parturients, and health institutions, directly influencing its definition and understanding. Objectives: To present a holistic perspective of the concept of obstetric violence through the review and analysis of empirical studies conducted with health professionals (e.g., nurses, and physicians, among others) and parturients. Method: A scoping review was conducted, for which obstetric violence was established as the basic concept. The search was conducted on Scopus, Web of Science, and b-on. Results: Eighteen studies were included according to the defined inclusion criteria. Results were grouped around the perspectives of three actors: the parturient woman, the health professionals, and the institutions. The lack of information; failure to obtain informed consent; use of derogatory speeches; use of physical, verbal, and psychological abuse; violation of women's rights; lack of training; humanization by some health professionals; and limitations in health institutions and services were highlighted as the factors that are most identified/related to obstetric violence. Conclusions: This study has contributed to reinforcing the need to clarify and standardize the concept of obstetric violence among professionals and society in general and to substantiate the importance of developing an instrument capable of assessing women's experience in labor regarding obstetric violence based on their experience.
Contexto: A violência obstétrica é um conceito multifatorial que envolve diversos atores, nomeadamente profissionais de saúde, parturientes e instituições de saúde, com influência direta sobre a sua definição e sobre o seu entendimento. Objetivo: Apresentar uma perspetiva holística do conceito violência obstétrica através da pesquisa e análise de estudos empíricos realizados com profissionais de saúde (e.g., enfermeiros, médicos, entre outros) e parturientes. Métodos: realização de uma revisão scoping, para a qual se estabeleceu como conceito base o de violência obstétrica. A pesquisa foi realizada nas plataformas Scopus, Web of Science e b-on. Resultados: Obedecendo aos critérios de inclusão definidos foram analisados 18 estudos. Os resultados agruparam-se em torno das perspetivas de três atores: parturientes, profissionais de saúde e instituições. Destacou-se a falta de informação; não obtenção do consentimento informado; uso de discursos depreciativos; recurso ao abuso físico, verbal e psicológica; violação dos direitos da mulher; falta de formação; humanização por parte de alguns profissionais de saúde; e limitações nas instituições e serviços de saúde, como os fatores que são mais identificados/relacionados com a violência obstétrica. Conclusões: O presente estudo contribuiu para reforçar a necessidade de se clarificar e uniformizar o conceito de violência obstétrica junto dos profissionais e sociedade em geral e fundamentar a importância do desenvolvimento de um instrumento capaz de avaliar a experiência das parturientes relativamente à violência obstétrica a partir da sua experiência.