The aim of the project is to strengthen and develop the movement of local women activists Guardians of Chidbirth with Dignity, to support grassroots civic initiatives to respect human rights and prevent discrimination during childbirth and to engage women to take action for change. For many years, we have been stigmatising bad practices in perinatal care and publicising violations of laws, thanks to which the Organisational Standard for Perinatal Care as a Regulation of the Minister of Health was introduced. This document guarantees women access to the same level of services under health insurance and recognises patient rights as an important component of care. However, although the Regulation has been in force for 10 years, it is not fully respected. Outdated knowledge, routine, unwillingness to change in case of a large number of medical staff members are still preventing the implementation of modern procedures.

As part of the project, we are providing training for 15 new local activists – women activists Guardians of Chidbirth with Dignity. They will be integrated into the movement of the Guardians of Chidbirth with Dignity developed by us since 2019. We support the network of the Guardians, improve their competences, provide them with tools and resources, and help them carry out local perinatal care monitoring and watchdog activities. We run an ongoing monitoring ‘Voice of Mothers’ and a social action ‘Voice of Mothers has the power to change’, where we encourage women to fill in surveys about perinatal care in hospitals. Based on the results of the surveys, a ranking of maternity hospitals is created. We organise local meetings for women on human rights in childbirth and run local ‘I have a right to complain’ campaigns encouraging women to write complaints to hospital management. We monitor conditions, procedures and obstetric statistics in hospitals.