Impacts of obstetric violence on women's health and mother-child relationship: an integrative review

Abstract

Obstetric violence is understood as any action or omission that causes physical, psychological, or moral harm to women during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period, constituting a violation of human and gender rights. Its impacts extend beyond the moment of birth, negatively impacting the woman's mental health and the development of an emotional bond with her baby. This study analyzes the available evidence in the scientific literature on the impacts of obstetric violence on the mental health and mother-child relationship of women victims. This integrative literature review, based on the PICo strategy, defined the guiding question: What are the impacts of obstetric violence on the mental health and mother-child relationship of women victims of violence during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum? Scientific articles were selected from the SciELO, LILACS, and PubMed databases, using the following Health Sciences Descriptors: "Obstetric violence," "Trauma," "Childbirth," "Mother-child relationship," and "Mental health," cross-referenced with the Boolean operator AND. Complete scientific articles, available in full, published in Portuguese or English between 2019 and 2024, were included. Opinion articles, editorials, reviews, and those found to be duplicates in the databases were excluded. The final sample consisted of six articles, all of which highlighted the impacts of obstetric violence on women's mental health, with the emergence of feelings of fear, shame, helplessness, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Furthermore, three studies found that obstetric violence harms the establishment of the mother-child bond, compromising maternal sensitivity, responsiveness in interactions, breastfeeding, and the formation of secure attachment, all of which are essential factors for the child's emotional and cognitive development. Obstetric violence compromises women's mental health and directly interferes with the development of the mother-child bond, affecting breastfeeding, maternal sensitivity, and the baby's emotional development. These findings reinforce the need for humane obstetric practices that promote respect, autonomy, and acceptance, as well as the implementation of public policies and psychosocial support strategies to prevent and minimize the negative impacts of obstetric violence.