A call for critical midwifery studies: Confronting systemic injustice in sexual, reproductive, maternal, and newborn care

Abstract

ystemic injustice is a threat to sexual, reproductive, ma- ternal, and newborn (SRMN) health. The effects of this injustice are reflected in the high maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality rates in former colonized coun- tries of the Global South, in marginalized communities of the Global North, and in underprivileged classes around the world. 1 Current research, clinical guidance, and global health politics all point to an inadequate response to in- justice on the part of SRMN care systems. Consider, for instance, four examples of ongoing injustices globally: the lack of workforce to meet SRMN, 2 the lack of access to safe abortion, 3 the “ethnic”, “racial”, and socioeconomic disparities present in maternal and newborn outcomes during the Covid-19 pandemic,4,5 and the severity and persistence of obstetric violence and obstetric racism.