{
  "abstract": "Issue/problem: Disrespect in childbirth is increasing recognised as a public health and human rights issue across Europe, affecting care experiences, maternal-child outcomes and trust in health systems. In Cyprus, the National Strategy to reduce caesarean sections (highest in EU) has a narrow focus to address underlying systemic and behavioural drivers, limiting its effectiveness.\n\nDescription: Through a participatory action process, RESPECT co-developed a Strategy for Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) engaging 35 stakeholders from government, professional bodies, regulatory authorities and civil society. The process explored drivers of sub-optimal care practices and produced actionable recommendations and deliverables through structured workshops, while fostering shared understanding and ownership.\n\nResults: Stakeholders mapped RMC determinants using the socio-ecological and COM-B models, identifying interconnected system-level drivers, including absence of national guidelines, weak quality assurance mechanisms, limited in-service training, and litigation-driven clinical decision-making. Actionable recommendations were organised across four pillars: clinical practice, professional development, women’s’ empowerment and research. Implemented outputs include: a quality checklist for maternity clinics based on the WHO standards, workshops and e-course on RMC rights, shared decision-making training for providers, and research-informed resources, such as the “When standard practice is not Practicing Standards” video and RMC Lexicon, among others.\n\nLessons: This academia-led project highlights the value of participatory policy development and the need to go beyond single-policy measures. Despite tensions around terminology (e.g. “obstetric violence”), the process enabled dialogue among stakeholder groups and produced context-specific, actionable tools. The project developed a model transferrable to other settings seeking to align with Respectful rights-based Maternity Care.\n\nKey messages: • The RESPECT project produced tangible and sustainable tools and resources for advancing Respectful Maternity Care offering a replicable model linking research with policy, training and practice.\n\n• Inclusive and participatory policy development approaches are essential for building trust, aligning stakeholders and fostering shared ownership of quality improvement efforts in maternity care.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "abstract",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "N Middleton"
    },
    {
      "name": "I Papairaklediou"
    },
    {
      "name": "M Kapsou"
    },
    {
      "name": "E Hadjigeorgiou"
    },
    {
      "name": "P Kinni"
    },
    {
      "name": "M Karanikola"
    },
    {
      "name": "C Nicolaou"
    },
    {
      "name": "I Orphanide-Eteokleous"
    },
    {
      "name": "O Kolokotroni"
    },
    {
      "name": "PT RESPECT"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5jw28m0fz8n8e.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.298",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13697413/",
  "id": "5jw28m0fz8n8e",
  "issns": [
    "1101-1262",
    "1464-360X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.298",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "3. PARALLEL PROGRAMME"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/MED00860"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC01210"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC02610"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2729|Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223704305",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13697413/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13697413",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Oxford University Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5jw28m0fz8n8e.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:28Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13697413",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.298"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:45Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13697413",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13697413"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2729|Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions",
      "subfield": "reproductive-child"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Advancing Respectful Maternity Care: co-developing the RESPECT National Strategy in Cyprus",
  "title_text": "Advancing Respectful Maternity Care: co-developing the RESPECT National Strategy in Cyprus",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:34:27Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5jw28m0fz8n8e",
  "venue": "The European Journal of Public Health",
  "versions": []
}