Women’s Rights Are Human Rights
Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls
Women’s rights are human rights and that includes the right to safe, respectful, equitable maternity care. Maternal Health Matters’ Position Statement: A Social Justice Approach for Birthing Women outlines why this matters and the reforms urgently needed.
Every person is entitled to fundamental human rights: to live free from violence and discrimination, to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and to access education and opportunity. Yet many women and girls continue to face discrimination on the basis of sex and gender. Gender inequality underpins the disproportionate burden of domestic, sexual, and obstetric violence, reduced access to education, and inadequate healthcare, including maternity care.
Research continues to highlight the prevalence of gender‑based violence and abuse in maternity care. Through evidence, advocacy, and campaigning, Maternal Health Matters is advocating pressing those in power to uphold women’s rights and deliver a maternity system that is safe, respectful, and just for all.
Our national surveys in 2017 and 2020, involving more than 2,600 women found that many still do not receive respectful care or genuine choice in childbirth. Read the 2017 report. Read the 2020 report. These findings challenge the idea that “birth only matters for a day.” How women are treated during pregnancy, labour, and birth has long‑term consequences for physical and mental health, bonding with their baby, and the strength of family relationships.
A Call to Action on International Women’s Day
On this International Women’s Day, we call for focused, sustained action to protect the rights, safety, and health of pregnant women and their babies.
A woman’s autonomy and safety depend on access to timely, affordable, equitable, respectful, high‑quality maternity care. These rights are fundamental they are not optional. They must be protected through structural reform of services ensuring women can access safe, culturally appropriate care wherever they live, with the health professional of their choice.
Maternal Health Matters’ position statement identifies key priorities for achieving health equity, including:
- Positive childbirth experiences as a foundation for lifelong health
- The role of positive birth experiences in strengthening families and communities
- Positioning positive childbirth as a cornerstone of health equity
- Ensuring access to skilled birthing support, especially continuity of midwifery‑led care
- Supporting embodied caregiving and valuing all caregivers
- A coordinated national approach to maternity care grounded in human rights
Respectful maternity care, guided by the Respectful Maternity Care Charter, provides a powerful framework for reforming maternity systems so they uphold dignity, autonomy, and justice.
Achieving health equity requires more than acknowledging unequal access. It demands confronting and transforming the social systems — rooted in histories of oppression and exploitation — that continue to reproduce inequality. When we enhance a woman’s autonomy and freedom, we strengthen her, her family, her community, and future generations.
Why the Woman–Provider Relationship Matters
A woman’s relationship with her maternity care providers directly shapes her safety, sense of control, and overall experience of childbirth. This relationship is not merely logistical; it can be a determinant of health outcomes.
Key reasons this relationship is critical include:
- Positive health outcomes: Continuity of care, most especially midwifery care is associated with fewer interventions, higher satisfaction, and equal or better clinical outcomes.
- Emotional and psychological safety: Supportive communication can prevent or reduce long‑term psychological harm.
- Trust and informed decision‑making: When women feel heard and respected, they can participate fully in decisions about their care.
- Mitigation of trauma: Trauma‑informed care is essential for women with histories of abuse to avoid re‑traumatisation.
- A with woman philosophy: Care that centres a woman’s physical, emotional, and cultural needs leads to safer, more positive experiences.
Respectful Maternity Care, endorsed internationally, affirms every woman’s right to dignity, privacy, confidentiality, and compassionate treatment; rights upheld through the quality of her interactions with providers.
We are committed to all women receiving Respectful Maternity Care