Background: Maternity care extends beyond clinical safety to include women's experiences of respectful, dignified, and supportive care during childbirth. Understanding these lived experiences is essential for identifying areas requiring quality improvement and promoting respectful maternity care .

Aim: To explore the lived experiences and perceptions of women regarding maternity care received during institutional deliveries.

Methods: A descriptive phenomenological design was adopted to understand women's lived experiences of institutional childbirth. Fourteen postpartum women who had undergone institutional deliveries within the previous six months were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using in-depth, semi-structured interviews until data saturation was achieved. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Trustworthiness was ensured through credibility, dependability, confirmability, transferability, member checking, and rich descriptions.

Results: Six interconnected themes emerged from the analysis. Inadequate communication was the predominant concern, with women reporting insufficient explanations resulting in anxiety and uncertainty. Limited autonomy reflected women's minimal involvement in decision-making and disregard for their preferences during labour. Insufficient emotional support left participants feeling frightened, lonely, and inadequately reassured throughout childbirth. Compromised privacy during examinations and delivery negatively influenced their sense of dignity. Although healthcare providers were recognized for their clinical competence, participants perceived them as inadequately available and insufficiently responsive to their emotional and informational needs. Women also expressed a strong desire for family proximity during labour, emphasizing that the presence of a trusted companion would have enhanced emotional comfort and overall childbirth experience.

Conclusion: Although institutional deliveries were perceived as clinically safe, women's experiences highlighted significant deficiencies in respectful maternity care. Strengthening communication, shared decision-making, emotional support, privacy, provider responsiveness, and family-centred labour support are essential to enhance maternal satisfaction and ensure respectful, woman-centred maternity care.

Namitha Subrahmanyam has completed her PhD at the age of 38 years from INC National Consortium For PhD In Nursing under RajivGandhi University of Health Sciences,Bangalore.She is the Principal at Malankara Orthodox Syrian church College of Nursing, Kolenchery,Kerala,India.

She has over 18 years of academic and research experience in Nursing Her research interests focus on women's health, gender issues.She serves as a Ph.D. Guide under the Indian Nursing Council National Consortium and Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS), and Yenepoya (Deemed to be University). She has authored numerous publications in national and international peer-reviewed journals, presented research at several scientific conferences, and received multiple awards for research paper presentations. A sought-after resource person for academic and research programs, she is committed to advancing evidence-based nursing practice, research excellence, and quality improvement in healthcare and nursing education.