Thematic Areas of the Platform

Transformative Practices to Prevent Obstetric Violence

This section brings together a series of texts produced by the IPOV – Respectful Care team, arising from meetings, research, and interdisciplinary dialogue among health professionals, academics, and activists on both sides of the Atlantic.

The reflections presented here invite us to rethink what we mean by good practices in childbirth care — not merely as a set of technical procedures, but as an ethical and institutional commitment and a broader cultural change that places respect, attentive listening, and supportive accompaniment at the center of care.

From experiences in public hospitals to community initiatives and birth centers, these writings explore how preventing obstetric violence begins with recognizing and strengthening practices that already embody different ways of caring: those that promote women’s autonomy, teamwork, continuous training, mutual support among professionals, and the symbolic repair of harm.

Each article contributes to a broader dialogue on how to build health systems that are more just, responsive, and conscious — where caring and being cared for become part of the same act.

Coordinators of this section

Patrizia Quattrocchi

University of Udine

Professor of Medical and Cultural Anthropology. Department of Humanities and Cultural Heritage.

Natalia Magnone

Universidad de la República | Uruguay

Lecturer and researcher. Her work focuses on integrating a gender perspective and feminism into teaching, research, and university outreach.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Disclaimer

Our selection of texts written by IPOV professionals:

This section brings together selected texts by professionals participating in the IPOV – Respectful Care project, focused on transformative practices to prevent obstetric violence. Through interdisciplinary reflections across diverse regional contexts, these writings explore how change is built in everyday care—through attentive listening, supportive accompaniment, shared decision-making, teamwork, and institutional conditions that protect physiology and rights.

Rather than proposing a single model of “good practice,” the authors present transformative practices as a situated, evolving approach: concrete strategies that challenge normalized routines and help advance evidence-based, rights-centred, respectful maternity care.

Obstetric violence, rights, and knowledge

The coordination between Nacer con Amor and IPOV researchers (UDELAR(6) – San Isidro Mother and Child Hospital) makes it possible to envision a shared regional horizon: building a Latin American pedagogy of respectful childbirth that draws on local knowledge, territorial experiences, and the transformative power of healthcare teams.