Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Dec 29;18(1):199.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18010199.

Obstetric Violence in Spain (Part II): Interventionism and Medicalization during Birth

Desirée Mena-Tudela  1 , Susana Iglesias-Casás  2 , Víctor Manuel González-Chordá  1 , Águeda Cervera-Gasch  1 , Laura Andreu-Pejó  1 , María Jesús Valero-Chilleron  1
Affiliations

Obstetric Violence in Spain (Part II): Interventionism and Medicalization during Birth

Desirée Mena-Tudela et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: obstetric violence can partially be represented by the high number of interventions and medicalization rates during the birthing process. The objective of the present study was to determine the interventionism and medicalization levels during childbirth in Spain.

Methods: a descriptive, retrospective, and cross-sectional study was conducted between January 2018 and June 2019.

Results: the intervention percentages were 34.2% for Kristeller maneuver and 39.3% for episiotomy. Differences appeared in public, private, and mixed healthcare settings (p < 0.001). The mean satisfaction, with healthcare in the different settings, was estimated at 6.88 points (SD ± 2.146) in public healthcare, 4.76 points (SD ± 3.968) in private healthcare, and 8.03 points (SD ± 1.930) in mixed healthcare (p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were found in Spanish autonomous communities.

Conclusions: births in Spain seem to be highly intervened. In this study, a certain equity criterion was found concerning interventionism during childbirth in Spain. Healthcare influenced female intervention, satisfaction, and perception levels for obstetric violence; this evidences that female empowerment plays an important role.

Keywords: Spain; interventionism; medicalization; midwife; obstetric violence; sexual and reproduction health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Interventions while giving birth according to received healthcare type.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Interventions during childbirth, according to cluster group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Williams C.R., Jerez C., Klein K., Correa M., Belizán J.M., Cormick G. Obstetric Violence: A Latin American Legal Response to Mistreatment during Childbirth. BJOG Int. J. Obstet. Gynaecol. 2018;125:1208–1211. doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.15270. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Pérez D’gregorio R. Obstetric Violence: A New Legal Term Introduced in Venezuela. Int. J. Gynecol. Obstet. 2010;111:201–202. doi: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2010.09.002. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jardim D.M.B., Modena C.M. Obstetric Violence in the Daily Routine of Care and Its Characteristics. Rev. Lat. Am. Enfermagem. 2018;26:e3069. doi: 10.1590/1518-8345.2450.3069. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bohren M.A., Vogel J.P., Hunter E.C., Lutsiv O., Makh S.K., Souza J.P., Aguiar C., Saraiva Coneglian F., Diniz A.L.A., Tunçalp Ö., et al. The Mistreatment of Women during Childbirth in Health Facilities Globally: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review. PLoS Med. 2015;12:e1001847. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001847. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization Appropriate Technology for Birth. Lancet. 1985;24:436–437. - PubMed

Publication types