PUBLICATIONS

Published recently:

CHILDBIRTH – RIGHTS – PANDEMIC: Monitoring Report on Violations of the Human Rights of Women in the Provision of Childbirth Care in Healthcare Facilities in Slovakia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The publication published in April 2021 in Slovak presents the results of monitoring designed to identify and describe violations of the human rights of women in the provision of antenatal and childbirth care in healthcare facilities in Slovakia during the period between early March 2020 and the end of June 2020 (a period often referred to as the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic). The monitoring was carried out using several methods, the primary source of information being an internet survey among women about their experience with the provision of healthcare before, during and after childbirth during the said period. An English version of the publication will be published before the end of this year.

The findings from the monitoring show that the pregnancy- and childbirth-related violations of human rights and internationally recognised medical standards that have already been documented in the CDA´s two previous reports, WOMEN – MOTHERS – BODIES I and II (see below), not only persisted during the first wave of the pandemic, but they were often either of much more massive extent or intensity, or acquired new forms. In the wake of the pandemic, Slovakia’s institutionalised childbirth care system has once again proved not to be based on human rights and the latest evidence-based medical standards and recommendations of internationally recognised professional organisations.
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English:

WOMEN – MOTHERS – BODIES II: Systemic aspects of violations of women’s human rights in birth care provided in healthcare facilities in Slovakia

The book is a sequel to WOMEN – MOTHERS – BODIES: Women’s Human Rights in Obstetric Care in Healthcare Facilities in Slovakia that gave pilot insights into the violations of women’s human rights in Slovak birthing facilities from the perspective of women as rights holders. The publication “II” seeks to describe some of these causes and various other system-level aspects related to the violations of women’s human rights in Slovak birthing facilities. To identify these causes, a series of in-depth interviews with obstetricians and midwives proved to be an important source of information. In a number of places, the publication compares and confronts the views and opinions of healthcare personnel and women.

It focuses on the institutional and organizational setting of birthing facilities and hierarchical arrangements of power and authority within them; on decision-making mechanisms regarding how care is to be provided in a particular case; on the mechanisms preserving the status quo; on personal and other resources, including hospital equipment; and also on how obstetricians and midwives are trained, or how they perceive women giving birth.
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WOMEN – MOTHERS – BODIES. Women’s Human Rights in Obstetric Care in Healthcare Facilities in Slovakia

The publication is the first one to discuss obstetric care in the Slovak Republic from the perspective of women’s human rights. It summarizes the results of more than two years of intensive efforts of our organisation in cooperation with NGO Women’s Circles, which carried out a pilot study and human rights monitoring, involving also standard methods of social scientific research. Authors of the publication managed to offer many key perspectives currently missing in obstetric care in Slovakia, including both the authentic experiences of women, and a women’s human rights perspective, among others.

The publication consists of four chapters. An overview and summaries of individual chapters are available in English:

Human rights at childbirth: basic international and national standards
Internationally recognised medical guidelines on the provision of birth-related healthcare
Birthing experience in a Slovak healthcare facility through the lens of women’s human rights
Information provided by healthcare facilities in Slovakia before birth

Conclusions as well as 6 annexes are available in full extent in English, too.
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CALCULATED INJUSTICE. The Slovak Republic´s Failure to Ensure Access to Contraceptives

The analytical report describes and analyses legal, political and social factors that create barriers to access by women and adolescent girls to modern contraceptives. The report is based on in-depth interviews with 29 women of reproductive age and with 39 experts. The report builds on an analysis of national and international law and policies, as well as on published materials concerning contraceptives. The conclusions contain recommendations for key stakeholders.

Authors:
Christina Zampas, Roseanne Kross, Adriana Lamačková, Janka Debrecéniová

Published by: Center for Reproductive Rights (New York), Možnosť voľby, Citizen, Democracy and Accountability (Bratislava)