Bohren MA, Mehrtash H, Fawole B, et al. - As mistreatment of women during childbirth has been reported across the world, researchers sought to develop and implement evidence-informed, validated tools to determine mistreatment during childbirth, and report results from a cross-sectional study in four low-income and middle-income countries. Women aged at least 15 years in twelve health facilities (three per country) in Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar, and Nigeria were recruited between Sept 19, 2016, and Jan 18, 2018. They performed 2,016 labor observations and 2,672 surveys. Experiences of physical or verbal abuse, or stigma or discrimination were reported by 838 (41·6%) of 2016 observed women and 945 (35·4%) of 2672 surveyed women. A higher risk of mistreatment was reported among women who were younger and less educated; this suggests inequalities in how women are treated during childbirth. Mistreatment most commonly occurs from 30 min before birth until 15 min after birth, which might be due to the higher likelihood of the presence of providers around the time of birth, or because of stressors influencing provider behavior (such as availability of resources, and clinical skills to manage childbirth and complications). As per qualitative research, midwives and doctors reported women as “uncooperative” during this period and some justified using physical and verbal abuse as “punishment” for non-cooperation and to ensure “good outcomes” for the baby.