AIM: This study aimed to explore the views of Palestinian women and healthcare providers regarding factors contributing to the mistreatment of women during childbirth at childbirth facilities in the West Bank, Palestine.
METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted in the West Bank, Palestine, from February 2019 to April 2019. In-depth interviews were conducted with six Palestinian women and five healthcare providers. Consent was obtained individually from each participant, and the interviews ranged from 40 to 50min. Data collection was continued until thematic saturation was reached. Open-ended questions were asked during interviews. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data collected from the interviews.
RESULTS: Four themes were identified with regards to the women and healthcare providers' views about factors contributing to the mistreatment of women during childbirth in the West Bank, Palestine: limitation in childbirth facilities, factors within the healthcare providers, the women themselves, and barriers within the community.
DISCUSSION: Mistreatment of women during childbirth may occur due to the limitations of resources and staff in childbirth facilities. Some women also justified the mistreatment, and certain characteristics of the women were believed to be the factors for mistreatment.
CONCLUSION: As the first known study of its kind in West Bank, the identified contributing factors especially the limitations of resources and staff are essential to provide good quality and respectful care at childbirth facilities.
RESEARCH DESIGN /SETTING: A cross-sectional validation study was conducted in middle and south of West Bank from February 2019 to June 2020. Two-hundred postpartum women were given self-administered and online questionnaire. Content and face validity were assessed. The "satisfaction of care" and "perceived quality of care" domains were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, while items in "experience of mistreatment" domain were evaluated descriptively. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the reliability of the questionnaire items.
FINDINGS: The new questionnaire consisted of three domains: "satisfaction of care", "perceived quality of care", and "experience of mistreatment" during childbirth. Five new items were added and two items were removed during content validation. Another two items were deleted through face validation. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted for the "satisfaction of care" and "perceived quality of care" domains. Two factors were identified for each domain, with a factor loading of more than 0.5. Twelve items were deleted from "satisfaction of care" domain and two items from "perceived quality of care" domain. The Cronbach's alpha values for the two factors in both domains were more than 0.87. The items in the "experience of mistreatment during childbirth" domain were evaluated descriptively.
KEY CONCLUSIONS: The new questionnaire is valid and reliable. The final questionnaire consists of 11 items for "satisfaction of care", 16 items for "perceived quality of care" and 43 items for "experience of mistreatment of women during childbirth".