Maternal Mistreatment in Healthcare: The Way Forward

Despite the ethical principles that guide medical practice, patient abuse and mistreatment still occur. Certain populations, including pregnant women, experience mistreatment by healthcare professionals more than others. The concept of maternal mistreatment has received increased attention in recent years. However, there have been limited attempts to measure its prevalence or health consequences. This paper explores the currently available data related to maternal mistreatment and makes recommendations to collect valuable information about this emerging public health issue in Texas. This paper presents information from one of the first large-scale national studies that collected data on maternal mistreatment in the United States. In addition, the core and standard questions of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey for Texas were analyzed, and questions and measures assessing maternal mistreatment and its association with social risk factors were proposed to be added to the Texas PRAMS questionnaire. Two survey questions were proposed. The first question is built on the definition of maternal mistreatment by the “Giving Voice to Mothers Study,” while the social risk assessment question is an adaptation of the “Core 5 assessment questions” created by the Ohio Action Coalition. Four measures were proposed to describe the prevalence of maternal mistreatment and the relationship between mistreatment and the social determinants of health. Collecting data on maternal mistreatment and its associated factors is the first step to preventing negative outcomes from this public health menace. The support of governmental agencies and other stakeholders is required to make this issue a priority and ensure that maternal satisfaction is considered an important maternal and child health indicator.