Respectful maternity care in the UK using a decolonial lens

Bibliographic Data

ID22229727
AuthorsAmali U Lokugamage (0000-0002-7439-2700, London Women's Clinic), Nathan Robinson (0000-0002-7557-2674, University College London), S D C Pathberiya (0000-0002-1242-0200, Radius Health (United States)), Sarah Wong (0000-0003-2306-291X, University College London), Christine Douglass (0000-0002-0504-7962, EDI Group (United Kingdom))
Year2022
Volume2
Issue12
Pages267-267
Publication date2022-12-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSN Social Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2662-9283 • E-ISSN: 2662-9283
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s43545-022-00576-5
PMID36531139
OpenAlexW4311422488
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited90

Respectful maternity care (RMC) is part of a global movement addressing the previous absence of human rights in global safe maternal care guidance. RMC is grounded in kindness, compassion, dignity and respectful working conditions. The decolonisation movement in healthcare seeks to dismantle structural biases set up from a historically white, male, heteronormative Eurocentric medical system. This article applies a decolonising lens to the RMC agenda and examines barriers to its implementation in UK healthcare systems. Searches of peer-reviewed journals about decolonising maternity care in the UK revealed little. Drawing from wider information bases, we examine power imbalances constructed throughout a history of various colonial biases yet lingering in maternity care. The overarching findings of our analysis revealed 3 areas of focus: professional structures and institutional biases; power imbalances between types of staff and stakeholders of care; and person-centred care through a decolonial lens. To uproot inequity and create fairer and more respectful maternity care for women, birthing people and staff, it is vital that contemporary maternity institutions understand the decolonial perspective. This novel enquiry offers a scaffolding to undertake this process. Due to significant differences in colonial history between Western colonising powers, it is important to decolonise with respect to these different territories, histories and challenges

Colonialism · Compassion · Decolonization · Dignity · Health care · Kindness · Maternity care · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Gender Studies · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Law · Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions · Medicine · Nursing · Social Issues and Policies

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