The right to respectful maternity care : access to skilled and respectful birth attendants in facility-based deliveries and women’s experiences of intersectional discrimination. A comparison between Angola and Mozambique

Abstract

Maternal mortality and morbidity is a widespread epidemic. Sub-Saharan African countries are the most affected and in most of them this issue is pervasively neglected by the governments. The main causes of this epidemic are the unavailability of quality maternal care services and trained health care personnel. One key strategy for addressing this issue is to increase facility-based deliveries, thereby increasing the proportion of women utilizing skilled care at birth. The issue of high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity is multidimensional and must be addressed on several fronts. These include working to eliminate wrongful gender stereotyping and intersectional discrimination, overcoming cultural, financial, and geographic barriers to health care access, as well as reforming poor quality of care at facilities. Ultimately, this study intends to answer the question of whether Angola and Mozambique are complying with the international standards of quality and respectful maternity care. Thus, this study will analyse if each respective state is investing the maximum of their available resources in bolstering their national health workforce and whether they are successfully seeking and receiving international assistance thereby guaranteeing equitable and non-discriminatory access to the highest attainable standard of health during facility-based deliveries.