Publication:

Knowledge regarding respectful maternity care among nurses working in obstetrics and gynaecology department of selected hospitals in Aizawl, Mizoram: a cross-sectional study

Background Respectful maternity care (RMC) is a fundamental human right that ensures dignity, privacy, confidentiality, freedom from harm and mistreatment, and informed decision-making for women during pregnancy, labour, and childbirth. Nurses play a crucial role in providing respectful maternity care, and adequate knowledge of RMC is essential for its effective implementation. Therefore, assessing nurses' knowledge regarding RMC is essential identifying educational needs and improving the quality of maternal healthcare services.

Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 60 nurses working in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology departments of selected hospitals in Aizawl, Mizoram. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire to assess knowledge regarding Respectful Maternity Care. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics with IBM SPSS version 20.

Results The findings revealed that the majority of nurses (81.7%) had adequate knowledge regarding Respectful Maternity Care, while 16.7% had moderate knowledge and 1.6% had inadequate knowledge. A statistically significant association was found between knowledge regarding Respectful Maternity Care and professional experience in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department (p = 0.049) as well as monthly income (p = 0.001). No significant association was observed between knowledge and other demographic variables such as age, educational qualification, and marital status.

Conclusions The study concluded that nurses possessed satisfactory knowledge regarding Respectful Maternity Care. Continuous education, orientation programmes for newly recruited nurses, in-service training, workshops, and awareness programmes are recommended to further strengthen nurses’ knowledge and promote the provision of respectful and quality maternity care.