Prevalence of obstetric violence during childbirth in Latin America and the Caribbean: a systematic review

The objective of this article is synthesize the scientific literature on the prevalence of verbal, physical, sexual, and stigma/discrimination-related obstetric violence against women during childbirth in Latin American and Caribbean countries. This systematic review was conducted using seven databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, LILACS, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Google Scholar), without restrictions on time period or language. Three researchers carried out the selection of studies and destruction of data between January 5th and 7th, 2025. A total of 2,085 articles were identified, of which 29 met the inclusion criteria. These studies were conducted in Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina, and Guatemala. The prevalence rates of obstetric violence varied widely across the different dimensions assessed. Verbal violence rates ranged from 1.4% (Mexico) to 87.1% (Brazil). For physical violence, prevalence rates ranged from 0.6% (Brazil) to 39.5% (Ecuador). Sexual violence was reported with a prevalence of 0.0% (Guatemala) and 5.5% (Brazil). Rates of stigma and discrimination ranged from 0.0% (Argentina) to 50.5% (Brazil). The findings highlight the high prevalence and complexity of obstetric violence in the region, emphasizing the need for standardized methods to measure the event in women during childbirth more robustly and comparably.