Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) is an approach to care that emphasizes the fundamental rights of women, newborn, and families, promoting equitable access to evidence-based care while recognizing unique needs and preferencerods (Shakibazadeh et al., 2018). Attitudes and behaviors of healthcare providers are entrenched in cultural norms and implicit and explicit bias may cause unintended harm during patient interactions (Howell et al., 2018). These factors may lead to harmful consequences and place patients at greater risk for not receiving appropriate attention to address individual concerns or quality care, specifically in the intrapartum and postpartum periods (Levine & Lowe, 2015; Miller et al., 2016; Saluja & Bryant, 2021).
The Respectful Maternity Care Framework and Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline provides evidence-based approaches to accomplish the following:
- Identify the essential aspects of respectful care
- Enhance awareness regarding the need for RMC
- Encourage reflection to identify opportunities for personal and organizational improvement to provide RMC
- Participate in improving the birth experience for people obtaining health care in maternity settings
- Support the implementation of RMC processes