The women's right to respectful and dignified care during labour and childbirth is strategically accepted [1]. As management committee members of the EU COST Action CA18211 network ('DEVOTION') focused on traumatic childbirth (www.ca18211.eu), we are concerned with ensuring a positive birth experience for all. We work on a pan-European level to ensure women's rights to give birth in a clinically and psychologically safe environment including during the current COVID-19 pandemic.