Conditions of access to maternity care for women with physical disabilities of the lower limbs in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Introduction It has been clearly demonstrated that throughout the world, women with disabilities do not have easy access to health services in general or maternity services in particular. Although the DR Congo stresses the importance of universal health coverage, virtually no specific approach has been developed to enable women with motor disabilities to access maternity services. The aim of this study is to describe these women's experiences with maternity care in Kinshasa to gain a better understanding of the problem and propose transformative action. Methods and results This qualitative study aims to explore the representations of maternity care as perceived by women with motor disabilities. Their experiences and subjective perceptions were collected through semistructured interviews. The Attride-Stirling framework was used to analyze the data. Our results show that women living with motor disabilities have more difficulty accessing maternity care than women who are considered able to do so. They felt that the main reasons were the lack of physical accessibility of premises, technical and material aids, the lack of medical skills among health professionals and the financial barrier. Conclusion Maternity services must eliminate barriers to improve access for women with motor disabilities. This must be done in the context of the right to health and access to health cover for all.