Improved quality of care as well as pleasant experiences during perinatal period, plays an important role in reducing preventable maternal mortality and morbidity. Occurrence of disrespect and abuse (D & A) in maternity care services affects the overall quality of care and may undermine women’s trust in the health system. The purpose of the study was to investigate the awareness and experience disrespect and abuse of pregnant women receiving care in General Hospitals in Lagos State, The study employed descriptive survey design. The selection of the pregnant women was done using multi stage sampling procedure in which a sample of 440 who met the inclusion criteria was selected. The instrument for data collection was tagged “Disrespect and Abuse among Pregnant Women Receiving Care Questionnaire”. The research instrument was presented to the experts of Nursing Science who ascertained the content and face validity of the study instrument. The validated questionnaire was checked for reliability where 40 copies of the questionnaires were administered. The reliability test results yielded a coefficient value of 0.796 for knowledge, 0.887 for disrespect and abuse. Data collected for the study were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed that the level of awareness of pregnant women on disrespect and abuse while receiving care in General Hospitals was low. In addition, the pregnant women in the general hospitals were said to experience little or minimal form of disrespect and abuse while receiving care in General Hospitals. It was recommended among others that Government agencies in charge of health should train and sensitized nurses on how to avoid disrespect and abuse of pregnant women anytime they are receiving care in the hospital.

Keywords: Awareness, Experience, Disrespect and Abuse, Pregnant Women, Care,

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