WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN CHILDBIRTH DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A Comparison of WHO Guidelines to Policies, Recommendations, and Practices in the US And Germany

Authors

  • Nikolina Klatt Hertie School of Governance
  • Ines Böhret German Institute for Medical Mission

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52854/cchrr.51

Keywords:

Women's rights, childbirth, COVID-19, public health emergencies, respectful maternity health care, WHO guidelines

Abstract

Women's rights to respectful care in childbirth are often violated, especially during health emergencies. This article evaluates to which degree policies and recommendations implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic strengthen or violate women's rights in birth in Germany and the US. Therefore, recommendations and policies on a subnational level in Baden-Wuerttemberg and New York State are compared to the recommendations given by the WHO for a safe and positive childbirth experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article demonstrates that policies approved in New York have the potential to increase the options for birthing women and thus strengthen their rights. In contrast, little evidence was found for subnational policies in Baden-Wuerttemberg that aimed to safeguard women's rights at birth. This article concludes that women's rights in birth must be supported at the federal, state, and institutional level to ensure respectful and safe birth experiences, even in times of pandemics.

Author Biographies

  • Nikolina Klatt, Hertie School of Governance

    Nikolina Klatt is a Master of Public Policy candidate at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. She has previously worked as a Research Assistant for CoronaNet Research Project and is an extended board member of Women In International Security Germany.

  • Ines Böhret, German Institute for Medical Mission

    Ines Böhret holds an M.Sc. in Global Health and an M.A in Caritas Science and Value-based Management. She works as a project coordinator for health system strengthening at the German Institute for Medical Mission and has been involved in the CoronaNet Project as a Research Assistant since the beginning of the Pandemic

Downloads

Published

2021-08-24

Issue

Vol. 3: Current Publications

Section

Research

License

Copyright (c) 2021 The Author(s)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).