Perception of health sciences and feminist medical students about obstetric violence

Objective

To measure the perception of obstetric violence among health sciences students.

Method

Cross-sectional design in which the validated questionnaire PercOV-S (Perception of Student Obstetric Violence) was used. The questionnaire was offered to the students who participated in the I Congress of Feminist Medicine of the CEEM (State Councils of Medical Students) held on March 12, 2021. This questionnaire was sent online through Google Forms.

Results

The mean score obtained on the total scale was 3.83 scores (SD = 0.61). For the dimension of protocolized-visible obstetric violence, the mean score is 2.79 points (SD = 0.84) and for the dimension of non-protocolized-invisible obstetric violence, a mean of 4.16 points is obtained (SD = 0.61). The global score of the displayed question differs statistically significantly with the variable scope (p = 0.019), course (p = 0.008), treatment according to ethnicity (p = 0.008), treatment according to socioeconomic level, immigrant status (p < 0.001), and prior knowledge about the concept of obstetric violence (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

The data show a marked generalised sensitivity of the sample to the issue of obstetric violence, especially with regard to the ethnic characteristics of the women. Likewise, the need to generate ethical-attitudinal training in the response to obstetric violence is observed.