Evaluation of patient perception of maternity care in a tertiary hospital
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Date
2016-11-05
Authors
Kulathunga, M.M.
Rathnayake, R.M.C.J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Peradeniya
Abstract
Antenatal and post-natal care is an important health service which detects and sometimes reduces the risk of complications among pregnant women. The quality of care is likely to influence effective utilization and compliance with interventions.
A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among mothers admitted in antenatal and post-natal wards in the teaching hospital Peradeniya. Data, collected by self- administered questionnaires, was analyzed by Rstudio software.
According to the study conducted, only 57% of mothers planned their pregnancy and 50% of them got their knowledge on pregnancy through midwives. 59% of mothers were satisfied of the facilities available in our clinic and 85% of mothers had knowledge on indication for their investigations. 79% of mothers knew investigations for fetal complications. 43% of mothers got their knowledge on contraception through antenatal sessions. 66% mothers liked to undergo vaginal delivery and 75% of them preferred participation in decision making. 42% of mothers were satisfied regarding pain management during labor and 70% and 76% of mothers were satisfied regarding attitudes of labour room staff and labour room facilities respectively. 81% of mothers who underwent caesarian section were satisfied on their surgery. Prevalence of satisfaction on post-natal pain management and mental health stabilization was 62% and 66% respectively. 84% of mothers were satisfied on our antenatal and post-natal service as a whole and 86% would like to choose the same hospital in the next delivery.
Our study too reflects a positive correlation between maternity care we provided and their perceptions, just as in previous studies. It was however observed that the level of satisfaction was not always in tandem with willingness to access the services. An earlier survey suggested that women may generally express satisfaction with the quality of antenatal services despite inconsistencies between received care and their expectations of the facilities. This reemphasizes the need for continued audit and evaluation of services at the antenatal clinic by health providers and policy makers.
We conducted this audit on our antenatal and post-natal care services to identify deficiencies in our service delivery. Though overall our results are encouraging, there is still potential to improve our services further.
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Keywords
Patient , Maternity care , Antenatal services , Post-natal care services