From Home to Hospital: Mistreatment of Childbearing Women and Barriers to Facility-Based Birth in Nicaragua

Worldwide, women continue to die during childbirth despite efforts to reduce maternal mortality. Nicaragua, particularly the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), possesses extremely high rates of maternal mortality. It has been suggested that promoting facility-based birth is an effective method to reduce maternal mortality through providing essential obstetric and emergency obstetric care to the most women. A significant barrier to increasing rates of facility-based birth globally is mistreatment of women patients in health care settings. This case report illustrates the mistreatment of childbearing women during facility-based birth in the RAAN, including verbal abuse, physical abuse, neglect, and use of unnecessary medical interventions.