Abstract
BackgroundPrevious studies demonstrate that people’s satisfaction with healthcare influences their further use of that healthcare system. Satisfied patients are more likely to take part in the decision making process and to complete treatment. One of the important determinants of satisfaction is the fulfillment of expectations. This study aims to analyse both expectations and satisfaction with antenatal care among pregnant women, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups.MethodsA quantitative descriptive study was conducted in 155 women seeking antenatal care at the University Hospital of Ghent (Belgium), of whom 139 completed the questionnaire. The statistical program SPSS-21 was used for data analysis.ResultsWomen had high expectations relating to continuity of care and women-centered care, while expectations regarding availability of other services and complete care were low. We observed significantly lower expectations among women without higher education, with low income, younger than 26 years and women who reported intimate partner violence. General satisfaction with antenatal care was high. Women were satisfied with their relationship with the healthcare worker, however ; they evaluated the information received during the consultation and the organizational aspects of antenatal care as less satisfactory.ConclusionsIn order to improve satisfaction with antenatal care, organizational aspects of antenatal care (e.g. reducing waiting times and increasing accessibility) need to be improved. In addition, women would appreciate a better provision of information during consultation. More research is needed for an in-depth understanding of the determinants of satisfaction and the relationship with low socio economic status (SES).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12905-015-0266-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Previous studies demonstrate that people’s satisfaction with healthcare influences their further use of that healthcare system
With regard to income we found that 10 % of the women had an income lower than the national minimum wage
The first antenatal care visit was later than 12 weeks of gestation for 5 % (n = 7) of the women
Summary
Previous studies demonstrate that people’s satisfaction with healthcare influences their further use of that healthcare system. One of the important determinants of satisfaction is the fulfillment of expectations. Consumer satisfaction is playing an important role in quality of care reforms and health-care delivery [1, 2]. To our knowledge there is no conceptual basis nor consistent measurement tool for satisfaction with antenatal care and a wide array of determinants seem to play a role. The existing studies demonstrate that factors such as waiting time before consultation, continuity in seeing the same health care worker, communication with the health care worker, setting and physical environment all impact on women’s satisfaction with antenatal care [4, 6]. More recently there is agreement that women’s satisfaction with antenatal care is determined by the interaction between their expectations and the characteristics of the healthcare they receive [3, 7]. Christaens & Bracke [4] demonstrated the positive correlation of expectations and satisfaction, with fulfillment of expectations being one of the most consistent predictors of satisfaction
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