Improving Midwifery Students' Awareness of Obstetric Violence: An Action Research

Aim: Obstetric violence is a poorly recognized phenomenon that significantly affects women’s mental health during childbirth and is considered a widespread public health problem requiring preventive and intervention efforts. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of obstetric violence awareness training from the perspective of midwifery students.Materials and Methods: In this study, which was conducted as an action research in qualitative design and attended by ten midwifery students, students were given a four-hour “Obstetric Violence Awareness Development Training” consisting of two sessions. After the training, students’ thoughts about obstetric violence were evaluated by content analysis method through in-depth interviews using a semi-structured form.Results: Content analysis revealed six interrelated themes, including students’ evolving definitions of obstetric violence, recognition of its physical, psychological, and structural forms, perceived causes such as workload and hierarchical pressure, emotional and psychological impacts of witnessing violence, prevention strategies, and transformative insights gained after the training.Conclusions: As a result of this action research conducted to improve obstetric violence awareness, it was concluded that definitions of obstetric violence can be made, types and causes of violence can be described, witnessing violence leads to psychopathologies, what can be done to prevent violence, and what can be gained after the training.