The Abuse That Women Experience in the Delivery Room

Giving birth is a long, painful process. The last thing that mothers need to experience during this difficult time is abuse from someone they should trust the most—the healthcare worker attending to them. Yet, sadly, many women across the United States suffer some form of abuse in the delivery room. Learn more about this dangerous phenomenon and what you can do if you have experienced something similar.

Delivery Room Abuse Can Be Physical or Verbal

According to a recent report, one in six women reports mistreatment by a healthcare worker during the delivery process. The five most common forms of abuse include healthcare workers:

• Shouting or scolding
• Ignoring or refusing requests
• Violating physical privacy
• Threatening to withhold treatment
• Threatening in any other way

Another common form of abuse involves healthcare workers forcing women to undergo medical procedures without their consent. One example of this a woman who had her perineum cut 12 times by her obstetrician during labor in a forced episiotomy procedure, despite her vocal protests. It is assumed the healthcare worker did this in an effort to speed up her labor.

This factor is prevalent in the American healthcare system, and it could be a reason for the country’s increasing maternal mortality rate—the only developed country in the world with this trend. Often, healthcare workers are pressured to meet with as many patients as possible. This leads to each patient receiving short, divided attention from a healthcare worker who may perform unnecessary procedures to speed up a patient’s visit—including a mother’s delivery.

Suffered from Medical Malpractice? We’re Here to Help

If you or someone you love suffered at the hands of a negligent healthcare worker, either during labor or in another situation, our Miami medical malpractice attorneys are here to protect your rights. We regularly take on some of the most complex cases involving medical malpractice and catastrophic injuries, and we fight to make crucial industry-wide changes when no one else will.

Call Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen at (866) 629-1061 to schedule a free consultation.