Poor pregnant women are ill-treated, abused and also undergo unnecessary C-sections

• A third of pregnant women in four low-income countries -- Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar, Nigeria -- do not receive right treatment during childbirth.
  
• 800 women die during childbirth daily even when the number can be easily reduced by over 80% through midwifery.
  
• According to the Lancet, 38% of pregnant women experienced physical and verbal abuse.
  

A third of pregnant women in four low-income countries -- Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar, Nigeria -- do not receive right treatment during childbirth, said a Lancet report.

Good treatment can reduce infant and maternal mortality rates in lower and middle-income countries. However, as per WHO, 800 women die during childbirth daily even when the number can be easily reduced by over 80% through midwifery.

An alarming percentage of physical abuse before and after childbirth

According to the Lancet, 38% of pregnant women experienced physical and verbal abuse.

"Younger, less-educated women were found to be the most at risk of mistreatment, which can include physical and verbal abuse, stigmatization and discrimination, medical procedures conducted without their consent, use of force during procedures, and abandonment or neglect by healthcare workers," said the report.

Apart from physical and mental abuse, 13% of the women underwent cesarean birth without their consent. Same was the case with 190 of the 253 episiotomies performed.

"There were also high rates of non-consensual cesarean sections, episiotomies (surgical cuts made at the opening of the vagina during childbirth) and vaginal examinations," reported WHO.

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