Knowledge and Perception of Postnatal Mothers on Respectful Maternity Care – A Explorative Study

Pregnancy and childbirth are the important and unforgettable occasions in the life of the women and family members and at this time women will be considered as the vulnerable group. Respectful Maternity care (RMC) is the universal human rights of every childbearing woman with respect of women’s feeling, autonomy, dignity, choices and preferences including companionship. To assess the knowledge and perception of mothers on Respectful Maternity Care and to associate the level of knowledge with the selected demographic and obstetric variables. Research design and approach – Non – experimental descriptive design and quantitative research approach. Research settings – Postnatal wards, in a selected hospital, Puducherry. Sample size – 60 postnatal mothers were selected by using purposive sampling technique. Data was collected by interview method by using modified Pattern Matrix RMC Scale. The majority of 26(43.3%) mothers were in the age group of 21-25 years, 26(43.3%) mothers had education upto graduate, 39(65%) mothers were from joint family and 37(61.7%) mothers were primiparity. The majority of 51(85%) mothers had poor knowledge, 9(15%) mothers had moderately adequate knowledge and none of them had adequate knowledge on Respectful Maternity Care. The majority of 58(96.7%) mothers received friendly care, 51(85%) mothers reported abuse free care, 57(95%) mothers acknowledged timely care, 60(100%) mothers received discrimination free care, and 49 (81.7%) mothers received consented care and 47 (78.3%) mothers acquired confidential care. The variable type of family showed significant association with the level of knowledge on Respectful Maternity care among the postnatal mothers at p level <0.05. Women should be empowered with universal human rights, the health provider should be aware of the rights and enrich them with quality based care.