Reflective Practices
abril 4, 2024Reflective Practices
abril 4, 2024Event Announcement:
IPOV Respectful Care Project Kick Off
Date: Tuesday, 23rd January 2024
Venue: Pasolini Hall, Palazzo di Toppo Wassermann
Address: Via Gemona 92, Udine
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (CET)
Opening Session: Live-streamed
Project Objectives and Sessions:
Digital Tool: Presented by Maria Hidalgo Rudilla, expert in Positive Communication and Social Design for NGOs (Spain).
Documents and Data: Led by Patrizia Quattrocchi from the University of Udine (Italy).
Learning Scenario: Introduced by Serena Brigidi from the University of Rovira I Virgili (Spain).
Bridging Strategy: Discussed by Virginie Rozée from the French National Institute for Demographic Studies (France).
Closed Session:
Date: Tuesday, 23rd January 2024
Venue: Palazzo Toppo Wasserman, Via Gemona 92, Udine
Location: Camera del Consiglio
Time: 2:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Date: Wednesday, 24th January 2024
Venue: Palazzo Caiselli, Vicolo Florio 2/a, Udine
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The "Obstetric Violence (IPOV): Innovative Tools for Respectful Maternity and Birth Care" project, recently secured by UNIUD as the coordinating entity, under the European HORIZON-MSCA-2022-Staff Exchange programme and grant agreement no. 101130141, addresses the global issue of obstetric violence, defined as the disrespectful treatment women endure during childbirth in healthcare facilities worldwide. The official agreement between the University of Udine and the European Commission was signed on 23rd October, marking the project's official commencement on 1st January 2024, set to run for four years. The project includes the Maternal and Fetal Medicine group of the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR).
Professor Patrizia Quattrocchi, from the Department of Humanities and Cultural Heritage Studies at the University of Udine (Italy), renowned for her expertise in medical anthropology and extensive research on childbirth and delivery policies in various contexts, serves as the project's scientific lead. She will oversee a vast international partnership comprising 19 academic and non-academic institutions across nine countries, including six European and three Latin American entities.
The project aims to achieve several key objectives:
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Design and implementation of an interdisciplinary, international digital platform connecting academic research and public policies, tailored to women's and civil society's perspectives and needs.
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Continuous platform updates with research materials and documentation collected or produced by the team members, serving as a real and virtual instrument for sharing a wide range of experiences and evidence.
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Development and execution of an innovative training programme for healthcare professionals, particularly gynaecologists and obstetricians, focusing on an intersectional, gender-sensitive, and human rights-based approach, alongside participatory methodologies. The pilot programme, scheduled for 2025 at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, will be analysed and validated, paving the way for the design of remote-access programmes and materials accessible via the platform. The most impactful strategies will then be transferred to the S. Isidro Maternal and Child Hospital in Argentina through professional exchange.
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Identification of strategies to engage diverse stakeholders (from social movements to national and supranational institutions) and provide ongoing specific advisory tools for policymakers and public policy planners. This effort will culminate in a permanent network of experts organizing a Consensus Conference on obstetric violence, slated for 2027 in France, bringing together leading European and international experts and stakeholders on the subject.
Over the project's four-year duration, team members will engage in exchanges and conduct numerous research, training, dissemination, and communication activities aimed at involving the scientific community and civil society. These activities include the production of informative materials and awareness campaigns targeting women and couples, hosting seminars and teaching activities, and creating scientific publications, audiovisual, and documentary materials.
The significance of the IPOV-Respectful Care project lies in its invitation to reflect on the systemic and structural dimensions of obstetric violence, recognized in international literature as a form of gender-based, institutional violence and a violation of human rights within an increasingly interventionist healthcare model. This relevance has garnered interest from European and international institutions (UN 2019, Council of Europe 2019, European Parliament 2021). The goal is to contribute to the social, political, and medical discourse on this issue, deemed by the WHO as a significant public health concern, and build an alliance among the scientific community, healthcare professionals, policymakers, women, and civil society to rethink the foundational act of childbirth.
Participating institutions in the project, alongside Vall d’Hebron and the University of Udine, include:
- In Spain: Universitat Rovira i Virgili, University of Granada, Complutense University, In Positive Communication and Social Design for NGOs, and the Obstetric Violence Observatory.
- In France: l'Institut National d'Études Démographiques.
- In Norway: Universitetet I Sorost-Norge.
- In the UK: University of Durham.
- In Portugal: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa and Gimnográvida – Preparation for Birth and Motherhood.
- In Italy: Istituto di cura a carattere scientifico e ospedale materno infantile Burlo Garofolo de Trieste-WHO Collaborating Centre for Maternal and Child Health and Scuola Elementale di Arte Ostetrica.
- In Argentina: Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos, Municipality of San Isidro-San Isidro Maternal-Child Hospital, and the Argentine Civil Association of Childcare.
- In Costa Rica: University of Costa Rica.
- In Uruguay: Universidad de La República.