TITLE:
Knowledge and Practices of Healthcare Professionals on Respectful Maternity Care in Two University Hospitals of Cotonou in 2024
AUTHORS:
Moufalilou Aboubakar, Ingrid Olowo, Tchimon Yéa Sètchégnon Vodouhe, Christiane Aguemon-Tshabu, Josiane Angeline Tonato Bagnan, Justin Lewis Denakpo
KEYWORDS:
Respectful Maternity Care, Health Professionals, Benin
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.15 No.8,
August
8,
2025
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Respectful maternity care is a model of care based on the values, attitudes and behaviors of health professionals with the aim of eradicating obstetric violence and positively impacting women’s experience during labor and childbirth. Objective: Assess the knowledges and practices of health professionals on Respectful Maternal Care in the delivery rooms of two university hospitals in Cotonou in 2024. Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with prospective data collection by interview and observation from July 12 to October 6, 2024. Results: The study involved 48 health professionals. Of the 48 health professionals recruited, 45.8% had an insufficient level of knowledge, 39.6% had an average level and 14.6% had a poor level. All the parturient women in the study experienced at least one type of mistreatment by health professionals. The most observed forms of mistreatment were the refusal of the patient to have an accompanying person during labor and delivery (100%), physical violence including episiotomies without anesthesia (20.2%), lack of confidentiality in the management of patient information (14.4%), failure to explain to patients their state of health (12.5%) and failure to respect the dignity of patients (shouting at the patient, mocking, disrespectful greetings) in the care provided. Conclusion: This study highlights the existence of serious shortcomings in terms of knowledge and practices of health workers in RMC. The reasons are multifactorial, linked to both the workers and the infrastructure. It is urgent that actions be taken in these two areas (for example, private delivery rooms, free provision of anesthetics, formative assessment, etc.).