Actions louder than words: actualizing Respectful Maternal Care (RMC) in India

Actions louder than words: development of curriculum and course for health professionals and a mobile phone app for intrapartum women to actualize Respectful Maternal Care (RMC) in India

Fisher J, Sastry J.

In collaboration with JIPMER, a federally run medical college and hospital in Pondicherry, India, we worked to prevent the disrespect and abuse of mothers during childbirth, which had been widely reported from several low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including India. The World Health Organisation had redefined the standards of respectful maternity care and had encouraged countries to adhere to them. Our intervention was to develop a core course to improve respectful maternity care through undergraduate training of health professionals and as continuing medical education for qualified professionals in India (and other LMICs).

In this project, we used mixed research methods to ascertain experiences of disrespectful care at JIPMER through surveys of women who had recently given birth and interviews with birth companions, labour room staff including interns, nurses, doctors, and senior faculty members, to understand factors that drove disrespectful care.

This project was funded by the Government of India – Ministry of Human Resource Development. This project was awarded to Dr Jayagowri Sastry and Prof Jane Fisher through an international competition of 25 countries around the world.