According to the World Health Organization, “many women across the globe experience disrespectful, abusive or neglectful treatment during childbirth in facilities. This constitutes a violation of trust between women and their health-care providers and can also be a powerful disincentive for women to seek and use maternal health care services.” Their recommendations on intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience includes, “the provision of respectful maternity care that maintains women’s dignity, privacy and confidentiality, enables informed choice and continuous support throughout labour and childbirth, and ensures freedom from mistreatment.”

On this episode, we sit down with Dr. Cheryl Larry-Osman, Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist at Henry Ford Hospital, and Dr. Ifeyinwa Asiodu, Assistant Professor at the UCSF School of Nursing, for an in-depth discussion on the respectful maternity care movement. They give us an overview of respectful maternity care, share the ways in which COVID-19 has exacerbated healthcare inequities, and provide our listeners with respectful care strategies that they can implement at their institutions.

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About the Speakers

Dr. Cheryl Larry-Osman, DNP, MS, RN, CNM, CNS-C

Cheryl Larry-Osman is a Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit Michigan. She has over 20 years of experience in obstetrics with focus in the clinical areas of Labor and Delivery, Postpartum, High Risk Antepartum, Normal Newborn, and Women’s Health. Cheryl Trained as a certified nurse midwife and is regularly invited to present on a host of clinical topics related to the care of women and newborns.

Cheryl is an active member of AWHONN. Since joining in 2003, she has been involved as a SE Michigan Chapter Leader; member of the Michigan Section Leadership Team; 2012 AWHONN Emerging Leader; 2015 Nurse in Washington Scholarship Recipient; Legislative Coordinator for MI; and, is also a member of the Public Policy Committee.

As a complement to clinical practice, Cheryl is trained as a healthcare Equity Ambassador through the Henry Ford Health System, serving as an expert in the areas of cultural competence and healthcare equity in the hospital system. As a researcher, she has been co-primary investigator for a cultural competence study, and is currently primary investigator for a “virtual nurse” digital education platform for postpartum moms. Cheryl is a passionate advocate for the optimal and equitable care of women and children and has involvement in policy and clinical strategies as the national, state, and local levels addressing preterm birth, infant mortality, and the reduction of maternal morbidity/mortality. Cheryl has also volunteered at perinatal loss and domestic violence prevention events.

Dr. Ifeyinwa Asiodu, PhD, RN, IBCLC

Ifeyinwa Asiodu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Health Care Nursing at University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing. As a researcher, registered nurse and lactation consultant, her research is focused on the intersection of racism, systemic and structural barriers, life course perspective, and increasing access to human milk, breastfeeding resources, lactation support, and donor human milk. Dr. Asiodu uses a critical ethnographic lens to inform her work. The long-term goal of her program of research is to reduce infant feeding disparities and increase access to high quality breastfeeding care, lactation support, and equitable contraception services for Black women. She is also actively engaged in local, state and national breastfeeding, reproductive health, maternal and child health, and public health organizations geared toward achieving birth and breastfeeding equity and justice.