Obstetric Violence From the Perspectives of Midwife Leaders in Hospitals in Nigeria.

Objective: To describe midwife leaders' (i.e., midwives in managerial positions) perspectives on the forms of obstetric violence (OV) women experience in hospitals in Nigeria.

Design: An interpretative qualitative phenomenological approach and the community readiness model (CRM) were used.

Setting: Three hospitals in Nigeria, where OV is recognized as a violation of fundamental human rights that negatively affects maternal and child health outcomes.

Participants: Six midwife leaders were purposively selected, with two representatives from select government-owned hospitals throughout Nigeria.

Intervention/measurement: Data collection was carried out through key informant interviews and analyzed thematically using NVivo software.

Results: Six themes emerged, highlighting various forms of OV observed by midwife leaders: Physical Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Discrimination Based on Specific Patient Attributes, Nonconsented Care, Nonconfidential Care During Pregnancy, and Detainment of Women in Health Facilities.

Conclusion: The findings substantiate the persistent occurrence of OV in government-owned facilities, emphasizing the urgent need for preventive measures to mitigate its detrimental effects on maternal and child health outcomes.