Background: Providing women with respectful maternity care will raise the standard of treatment; reduce their
psychological strain, and lower maternal and newborn mortality rate. Aim: evaluate the effect of the respectful
maternity care educational program on the perception of internship nursing students. Method: Quasi-
experimental research design (pretest/posttest) was adopted. A convenience sample of 96 internship nursing
students was recruited. This study was conducted at Minia University Hospital for Maternity and child. Minia
governorate, Egypt. Four tools were utilized: A structured Interviewing questionnaire Schedule, an Observed
Disrespect, and Abuse Checklist, Students‟ Perceptions of Respectful Maternity Care Scale, and Perceptions of
Changed Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice after Intervention Scale. Results: The majority (88.5%) of the
sample reported observing disrespectful or abuse behavior towards women by healthcare providers during
childbirth. There were highly statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-intervention mean
perception scores regarding respectful maternity care among the internship nursing students (p<0.001). Post-
intervention, the majority of the internship students had a good understanding, and positive views, intended to
use the obtained knowledge about respectful maternity care, and were aware of disrespectful care by other
healthcare providers in their practice 57.3%, 53.1%, 52.1% 57.3% respectively. Conclusion: The perspective of
the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the internship nursing students was enhanced by the respectful
maternity care educational program. Recommendation: Raise awareness among healthcare professionals about
the value of respectful maternity care.