, some women reported that they avoided public healthcare institutions because they feared being abused and mistreated. As a result, some gave birth at home or delayed seeking healthcare services.
We know workplace conditions are difficult for healthcare workers in the public sector, with burnout, lack of staff, low remuneration, lack of basic equipment and bullying. Obstetric violence flourishes in such conditions. While individual perpetrators of violence need to be held to account, it must be emphasised that a culture of violence around birth is not the result of individual “bad apples” in the system. It is the system more broadly that is toxic.
We have known about the widespread mistreatment of birthing persons in South African healthcare facilities since the late 1990s but very little has been done about it.
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