Abstract
BACKGROUND: The study explores the knowledge and perception of labor rights violations among the obstetric population in Brazil, highlighting the significant role of laws and policies in women’s reproductive health. METHODS: A cross-sectional multicenter study in three Brazilian maternity facilities in June-July 2022. Postpartum women were included and responded to a questionnaire about their knowledge of labor rights; those who worked during pregnancy answered about their perception of violations of labor rights. Multivariate analysis was used to identify factors associated with level of knowledge and perception of violation of LR. RESULTS: 652 postpartum women were enrolled and 293 who worked during pregnancy answered about rights violations; 8.1% women knew all their labor rights, and 40.8% did not know at least half of the 16 specified labor rights. Being adolescent (ORadj: 2.12 [1.22–3.69] 95% CI), living in the Brazilian Northeast region (ORadj: 3.41 [2.36–4.92] 95% CI), having low education (ORadj: 1.88 [1.26–2.81] 95% CI) and being a single mother (ORadj: 1.80 [1.24–2.61] 95% CI) were associated with limited knowledge of labor rights. Over 50% of pregnant women had their labor rights violated. Women from the northeast region of Brazil were five-fold more likely to experience rights violation (ORadj: 5.35 [2.52–11.52] 95% CI). CONCLUSION: Few pregnant women knew their rights, and many experienced violations of labor rights, especially socially vulnerable women. Better health education on labor rights and increased monitoring are needed to protect women´s rights. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12884-025-08317-1.