Unveiling respectful maternity care as a way to address global inequities in maternal health
Anteneh Asefa
Abstract
### Summary box > The World Health Organization describes respectful maternity care (RMC) as “the care organised for and provided to all women in a manner that maintains their dignity, privacy and confidentiality, ensures freedom from harm and mistreatment, and enables informed choice and continuous support during labour and childbirth”.1 The components of respectful care mentioned in the definition above focus on the interpersonal relationships in the woman–provider dyad. Nonetheless, they have their foundations on a robust health system, and respectful care cannot be realised in the absence of a well-functioning health system. In this commentary, I will focus on the potential of promoting RMC—from the perspectives of health system strengthening—in bridging the gap in maternal health inequity. I use evidence from Ethiopia to elaborate the cases where necessary and share my thoughts on the way forward to promote RMC, especially in low-income settings. Maternal mortality has declined worldwide, with an impressive 45.2% reduction between 1990 and 2017.2 However, there is a staggering divide between low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries, the former accounting for 99% of global maternal deaths in 2017. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 66% of the global maternal deaths in the same …