Standards for Respectful Maternity Care
This two-part set of performance standards for RMC, with accompanying verification criteria, establishes objective guidelines to gauge healthcare workers’ clinical performance promoting RMC. These standards may be applied using the Standards-Based Management and Recognition (SBM-R) approach to performance improvement. Alternatively, a list of the performance standards and verification criteria included in this toolkit may be used as a checklist for other approaches to improve the quality of performance. The standards presented cover two components of MNH care--Childbirth Care, and Antenatal and Postnatal Care. These standards can be used for: 1) training providers in quality RMC, 2) providing guidance to supervisors to support healthcare workers in achieving RMC in the workplace, and 3) guiding program managers in the core clinical behaviors that are needed to ensure that women are receiving RMC. These standards may be used alone, or elements of these standards can be incorporated into general childbirth, antenatal care, and postnatal care standards already in use in a facility.