BACKGROUND:
In Sweden, an increase in filed claims due to suspected suboptimal care has been observed. Risk factors for having a compensated claim include women with co-morbidities, post-term pregnancies, or a previous cesarean birth.

OBJECTIVES:
To investigate the association between disrespectful care during childbirth and filing a complaint for suboptimal care.

METHODS:
The Swedish version of the Birth Experience Study (BESt-IC) is a survey including data from women who gave birth in Sweden between 2019 and 2024, and covering background and childbirth characteristics, birth experience, obstetric violence, and validated measures of mistreatment and disrespectful care (MIST and MORi). Multivariable logistic regression was performed to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for the association between filing a complaint and experiences of mistreatment or disrespectful care, adjusting for relevant confounders.

RESULTS:
A total of 18148 women participated and of these, 7.0% reported that they had filed a complaint. Furthermore, 1730 women stated that they had refrained from filing a complaint since it felt too psychologically distressing. Filing a complaint was associated with a negative birth experience (OR 4.70, 95% CI 4.17–5.29), experiencing obstetric violence (OR 6.73, 95% CI 5.89–7.70), low respect (OR 14.88, 95% CI 9.50–23.31), and mistreatment (OR 4.96, 95% CI 4.38–5.61). Analyses are ongoing and further results will be presented at the conference.

CONCLUSIONS:
The preliminary findings indicate an association between several aspects of disrespectful care, and the filing of a complaint for experiencing suboptimal care.

KEY MESSAGE:
This study provides new insights into suboptimal care during childbirth, an important topic for women, their infants, the family, and for society.The findings may help inform interventions to improve care during complicated births and following adverse events. Breastfeeding - support (including three-minute presentation competition)