Women's expectations and experiences in maternity care: What women rate as most important

Abstract

Surveys of women have identified that women are generally highly satisfied with maternity care provision. Of interest are the aspects of care that women rate as the most important for achieving satisfaction and a satisfactory maternity care experience. This study identifies key issues of maternity care to women. The aim of this study was to identify which aspects of care women rate as most important. This research is a large qualitative study exploring the views of women and health professionals about their expectations and experiences ofmaternity care provision. In-depth semi-structured interviewswere conductedwith 53women experiencing maternity care in a range of tertiary, regional, rural and remote hospitals and midwifery caseload practices in New South Wales over 2010–2011. Included in the interview schedulewas the question ‘what3aspectswouldyouseeasmost important fordelivery ofmaternity care?’ Thematic analyses of entire transcriptswere conducted by 3 researchers, including responses to this question. Thematic analyses of women’s responses identified 5 important aspects of care: woman-focused care, staff qualities, systems and facilities, family-focused care and continuity of care/information. Greater numbers of first-time mothers rated woman-focused care and staff qualities as having greater importance than multiparous mothers. Urban and regional mothers rated woman-focused care, staff qualities, systems and facilities as having greater impact for satisfactionwith their care than rural and remotemothers.Women consistently identified woman-focused care and staff qualities as important aspects to receive a positive maternity care experience. These findings highlight the importance of care that is responsive to women’s individual needs. The different needs of first-time and multiparous women have implications for tailoring care provided to these women.