Obstetric violence at the San José de Taisha Hospital, year 2020

Abstract

Introduction: Obstetric violence constitutes a public health problem that needs to be controlled and eradicated worldwide, because it has become a disrespectful and abusive practice, normalized by health workers, and represents another form of violence towards women. These practices in recent decades have been carried out routinely during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum, which constitutes a violation of fundamental human rights such as non-discrimination and the right to a life free of violence. Objective: To analyze the perception of health professionals about obstetric violence, to determine both the diffusion of the phenomenon and the level of normalization of violent and humiliating practices in health professionals who are trained and work in the Ecuadorian national system. The San José de Taisha Hospital, in the Amazonian part of the country, was chosen as a case study. Methodology: The research is of a qualitative type with a phenomenological design and is carried out through the consultation and analysis of secondary sources and semi-structured interviews with three health professionals. Results. It was made evident that, although obstetric violence is already recognized in its dimension of structural violence and good practice protocols have been issued, it could be observed that it still persists in health centers and continues to be normalized. Conclusion: Obstetric violence practices focus on physical abuse; inappropriate maneuvers such as Kristeller, episiotomy, amniotomy and psychological abuse such as discrimination, yelling and value judgments