Relationship of post-traumatic stress disorder with disrespect and abuse during childbirth in a group of Iranian postpartum women: a prospective study

BACKGROUND: Disrespect and abuse (D&A) violate the fundamental principles of ethics, human rights, and basic obligations to protect and relieve patients. This study aimed to identify the status of D&A and its relationship with the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Iranian women. METHODS: This prospective study was conducted on 288 mothers admitted to the maternity wards of three public and three private hospitals in Tabriz. The data collection tools were socio-demographic and obstetric questionnaires as well as D&A (6–18 h postpartum) and PTSD (one month postpartum) scales, which were completed by participants in interviews. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to determine the relationship between PTSD and D&A in adjusting the socio-demographic and obstetric variables. RESULTS: In this study, 74.7% of mothers reported one or multiple types of D&A. According to the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, 16.3% of the participants experienced postpartum PTSD. The mean (± standard deviation) of the PTSD score was reported 7.32 (± 2.0) in the women experiencing D&A, whereas it was 1.0 (± 0.0) in the women having no experiences of D&A. According to the Mann–Whitney U test results, there was a significant relationship between the total and all subscales of PTSD score and D&A (p < 0.001). The multivariate logistic regression results indicated that the likelihood of PTSD was significantly lower in the participants without any D&A experiences than in those with D&A experiences (aOR: 0.06; 95% CI 0.01 to 0.58; p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: Given the PTSD–D&A relationship, it is recommended to improve maternal care in maternity facilities to prevent any unintended PTSD complications.