Table 3 Descriptive statistics of experienced disrespect and abuse during labour and birth presented per category and question
| Â | Not experienced, n (% of total) | Experienced | Missing | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total experienced, n (% of total) | Not upsetting, n (% of experienced) | Upsetting, n (% of experienced) | |||
Emotional pressure | 11,870 (97.0) | 369 (3.0) | 50 (13.6) | 319 (86.4) | Â |
Were you threatened with bad test results or poor outcomes related to the health of your child? | 11,915 (97.2) | 324 (2.6) | 51 (15.7) | 273 (84.3) | 0 |
Were threats made that involved withholding care from you or your child? | 12,152 (99.3) | 87 (0.7) | 4 (4.6) | 83 (95.4) | 0 |
Were you threatened with legal consequences? | 12,217 (99.8) | 22 (0.2) | 2 (9.1) | 20 (90.9) | 0 |
Unkindness/verbal abuse | 10,941 (89.9) | 1226 (10.1) | 193 (15.7) | 1033 (84.3) | Â |
Did a health care provider say you were overreacting or you were pretending things were worse than they really were? | 11,635 (95.6) | 532 (4.4) | 37 (7.0) | 495 (93.0) | 72 |
Were you subjected to insulting, harsh, unpleasant and/or derogatory comments? | 11,499 (94.5) | 668 (5.5) | 64 (9.6) | 604 (90.4) | 72 |
Were you spoken to or shouted at in a harsh/rough or crude/coarse way? | 11,658 (95.8) | 509 (4.2) | 132 (25.9) | 377 (74.1) | 72 |
Were you verbally abused? | 12,149 (99.9) | 18 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | 18 (100.0) | 72 |
Harsh or rough treatment/physical violence | 9648 (79.9) | 2429 (21.1) | 872 (35.9) | 1557 (64.1) | Â |
Were you forced to stay in bed?* | 9627 (84.7) | 1745 (15.3) | 822 (47.1) | 923 (52.9) | 867* |
Were you forced into a particular position, or were you manually restrained?* | 10,646 (93.6) | 726 (6.4) | 277 (38.2) | 449 (61.8) | 867* |
Were you subject to rough physical treatment? | 11,451 (94.8) | 626 (5.2) | 195 (31.2) | 431 (68.8) | 162 |
Were you slapped or kicked? | 12,070 (99.9) | 7 (0.1) | 2 (28.6) | 5 (71.4) | 162 |
Was a (medical) intervention performed that you experienced as physical abuse? | 11,526 (95.4) | 551 (4.6) | 26 (4.7) | 525 (95.3) | 162 |
Was a (medical) intervention performed that you experienced as sexual abuse? | 11,977 (99.2) | 100 (0.8) | 2 (2.0) | 98 (98.0) | 162 |
Lack of communication | 8350 (70.1) | 3562 (29.9) | 1024 (28.7) | 2538 (71.3) | Â |
Did you feel you were not being involved in the decision-making during labour and birth? | 10,374 (87.1) | 1538 (12.9) | 699 (45.4) | 839 (54.6) | 327 |
Did you feel you were not being listened to? | 10,773 (90.4) | 1139 (9.6) | 97 (8.5) | 1042 (91.5) | 327 |
Did you feel you were not being taken seriously? | 10,649 (89.4) | 1263 (10.6) | 93 (7.4) | 1170 (92.6) | 327 |
Did you feel insufficiently at ease to ask questions? | 11,278 (94.7) | 634 (5.3) | 86 (13.6) | 548 (86.4) | 327 |
Did you feel that you weren’t being given information that you should have been given? | 9428 (79.1) | 2484 (20.9) | 664 (26.7) | 1820 (73.3) | 327 |
Lack of support | 9260 (78.7) | 2498 (21.3) | 362 (14.5) | 2136 (85.5) | Â |
Did you feel you received too little attention, or were you left alone when you did not want to be left alone? | 10,157 (86.4) | 1601 (13.6) | 208 (13.0) | 1393 (87.0) | 481 |
Did a health care provider refuse to assist you? | 11,411 (97.0) | 347 (3.0) | 42 (12.1) | 305 (87.9) | 481 |
Did you ask for pain relief and was your request either ignored or refused by the care provider without there being a clear reason for this? | 11,198 (95.2) | 560 (4.8) | 78 (13.9) | 482 (86.1) | 481 |
Were you or your partner denied (physical) contact with your child, without a clear reason? | 11,518 (98.0) | 240 (2.0) | 17 (7.1) | 223 (92.9) | 481 |
Did you experience a lack of privacy? (for example during a physical examination) | 11,156 (94.9) | 602 (5.1) | 131 (21.8) | 471 (78.2) | 481 |
Lack of choices | 6957 (60.2) | 4602 (39.8) | 2355 (51.2) | 2247 (48.8) | Â |
Were you not free to decide who would be present at your delivery? (other than health care providers)** | 7487 (94.9) | 400 (5.1) | 297 (74.3) | 103 (25.7) | 4352** |
Did you feel compelled to accept care that you didn’t really want? | 10,669 (92.3) | 890 (7.7) | 208 (23.4) | 682 (76.6) | 680 |
Were you not free to decide your position during contractions?* | 8881 (81.1) | 2076 (18.9) | 1042 (50.2) | 1034 (49.8) | 1282* |
Were you not free to decide the position in which you gave birth?*** | 5355 (74.7) | 1816 (25.3) | 1311 (72.2) | 505 (27.8) | 5068*** |
Were you told there were certain things you weren’t allowed to do, without there being a clear reason for this decision? | 10,887 (94.2) | 672 (5.8) | 227 (33.8) | 445 (66.2) | 680 |
Was a (medical) intervention done without your having given clear permission in advance? | 10,199 (88.2) | 1360 (11.8) | 708 (52.1) | 652 (47.9) | 680 |
Was a (medical) intervention continued even after you asked for it to be stopped? | 11,214 (97.0) | 345 (3.0) | 24 (7.0) | 321 (93.0) | 680 |
Discrimination | 11,426 (99.2) | 94 (0.8) | 11 (11.7) | 83 (88.3) | Â |
Did you experience discrimination based on race, ethnicity, cultural background, or language? | 11,486 (99.7) | 34 (0.3) | 6 (17.6) | 28 (82.4) | 719 |
Did you experience discrimination based on age? | 11,495 (99.8) | 25 (0.2) | 3 (12.0) | 22 (88.0) | 719 |
Did you experience discrimination based on sexuality and/or gender identity? | 11,515 (100.0) | 5 (0.00) | 1 (20.0) | 4 (80.0) | 719 |
Did you experience discrimination based on physical or mental disability, illness or complaint? | 11,510 (99.9) | 10 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | 10 (100.0) | 719 |
Did you experience discrimination based on religion or belief? | 11,496 (99.8) | 24 (0.2) | 2 (8.3) | 22 (91.7) | 719 |
Did you experience discrimination based on your appearance (other than racial appearance)? | 11,514 (99.9) | 6 (0.1) | 1 (16.7) | 5 (83.3) | 719 |
Did you experience discrimination based on education, class, income or other socio-economic factors? | 11,496 (99.8) | 24 (0.2) | 3 (12.5) | 21 (87.5) | 719 |