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Abstract

Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) is key to improving quality maternity care and has also been recognized as a foundational approach to quality maternity services. The framework has been developed around respect and promotion of dignified care, confidentiality and privacy, and autonomy of a woman, along with her right to freedom from neglect, discrimination, physical and verbal abuse, during pregnancy and childbirth. Despite worldwide acknowledgment and promotion of RMC, disrespect and abuse during childbirth have been observed among women in maternity settings, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This narrative review summarizes the current evidence and clinical implications of RMC. The findings indicate that respectful maternity care is a very important factor in improving delivery experience, increasing trust between mothers and healthcare providers, enhancing maternal satisfaction, increasing the utilization of institutional delivery services, and advancing equity in maternal health and women's rights. However, evidence is still limited on scalable interventions, particularly in resource-constrained settings, and on operationalizing provider-level standards for respectful care. Filling these gaps requires coordinated, multi-level maternity efforts that address social and structural inequities, uphold women’s rights to dignified care, and foster robust health systems that sustainably support respectful, high-quality maternity services worldwide.

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