Hakimi Meta-Analysis: Global Obstetric Violence (IJGO, 2025)
55% global prevalence of obstetric violence
Pooled global data: 55% of women worldwide experience some form of obstetric violence. Non-consented care is the most common form at 33%.
Hakimi and colleagues published a meta-analysis pooling data from studies of obstetric violence across multiple countries. The headline finding is that 55 percent of women worldwide report some form of obstetric violence during birth. The category includes verbal abuse, physical abuse, discrimination, and non-consented care.
Non-consented care alone showed up in 33 percent of the pooled sample. This is the first global-scale estimate that has pulled the regional studies together, and it is consistent with the smaller national surveys including the US Giving Voice work. The meta-analysis included countries with high and low income, public and private health systems, and varying maternity care models, which means the pattern is not specific to one kind of health system.
55%
Global obstetric violence prevalence
33%
Non-consented care alone
2025
Publication year
Multi-country
Pooled across income levels
Why it matters
This is not a US-only problem and it is not a developing-country problem. The pattern shows up across health systems globally, which makes it about how birth care is structured, not where it happens.
This is one finding from the research library behind How to Birth a Mother. Everything here traces back to a study, a dataset, or a systematic review.