Accompanying Women Victims of Gender Violence. Ethical Considerations for Midwives

The aim of this paper is to define an ethical framework that intertwines the essential—but not the only—elements that midwives should take into account when assisting pregnant women who suffer from gender violence (GV). Our proposal will focus on the idea of accompaniment, which can be defined as the process through which support is given to a vulnerable person in order to help her/him gain autonomy. A model of a biopsychosocial accompaniment of pregnant women suffering from gender violence will be suggested. It has three dimensions: firstly, it is a process through which midwives help women empower themselves; secondly, it is a process through which midwives build up an environment of trust and respect in the medical consultation; and thirdly, it requires an appropriate teamwork. This paper will focus on the first two dimensions, which are the two sides of the same coin, and will only briefly address the third one, as it goes far beyond the field of midwifery and thus beyond the aim of this article. The methodology used to develop this paper is the philosophical-rational analysis and reflection.