Women’s narratives of experiences, drivers and consequences of mistreatment during maternity care in western Ethiopia

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

This qualitative study presents women's first-hand experiences of mistreatment in health facilities, highlighting various forms stemming from interpersonal interactions and systemic deficiencies in care quality. These experiences lead to significant negative consequences and implications on service delivery. The findings underscore the importance of understanding the complex factors driving mistreatment, extending beyond individual healthcare providers' behaviours to macro-level health system issues and general violence against women in society. This emphasises the importance of applying a systems-thinking approach to address the abuse and suffering women experience during maternity care in health facilities.