Antenatal Care Strengthening in Jimma, Ethiopia: A Mixed-Method Needs Assessment

Abstract

Objective. We assessed how health system priorities matched user expectations and what the needs for antenatal care (ANC) strengthening were for improved maternal health in Jimma, Ethiopia. Methods. A questionnaire survey among all recent mothers in the study area was conducted to study the content of ANC and to identify the predictors of low ANC satisfaction. Further, a qualitative approach was applied to understand perceptions, practices, and policies of ANC. Results. There were no national guidelines for ANC in Ethiopia. Within the health system, the teaching of health professional students was given high priority, and that contributed to a lack of continuity and privacy. To the women, poor user-provider interaction was a serious concern hindering the trust in the health care providers. Further, the care provision was compromised by the inadequate laboratory facilities, unstructured health education, and lack of training of health professionals. Conclusions. Health system trials are needed to study the feasibility of ANC strengthening in the study area. Nationally and internationally, the leadership needs to be strengthened with supportive supervision geared towards building trust and mutual respect to protect maternal and infant health.

Satisfação do usuário da Atenção Básica em Saúde por regiões do Brasil: 1º ciclo de avaliação externa do PMAQ-AB

“…However, it requires structural resources and compatible equipment for enabling health providers to make this commitment 32 . It is important to highlight that the high prevalence of resolved demands also contributes to building confidence With regard to privacy, users from all regions mentioned that the lack of an office room that provided privacy decreased the likelihood of achieving USat-PC, confirming the work of Villadsen et al 33 conducted in Ethiopia. This variable had the greatest influence in the North (2.1-fold decrease in USat-PC).…”

Antenatal care strengthening for improved quality of care in Jimma, Ethiopia: an effectiveness study

“…The health system in Jimma is dealing with competing needs and priorities with very limited resources. Provision of ANC service has not been given high priority, and the inadequate quality of ANC put women’s trust in the health system at risk [ 31 ]. With this intervention study, we have shown that quality of ANC can be improved in some important aspects with few resources.…”

“…An ANC strengthening intervention, the Maternity Study, was launched in the Jimma area and the surrounding urban communities in Southwest Ethiopia, to improve the quality of care and to develop strategies for improved ANC in low-income settings. The setting and prior needs assessment, using a participatory mixed method approach, has been described previously [ 31 ]. In brief, there were no official Ethiopian ANC guidelines in 2008, and the providers in Jimma did not have support to give high priority to ANC.…”

Factors associated with user satisfaction regarding treatment offered in Brazilian primary health care

“…Villadsen et al 34 and Mendoza Aldana et al 14 also found an association between user satisfaction with the health service and the privacy of the consulting room.…”

“…This is an important scientific study because previous studies about user satisfaction with health services were conducted with restricted and localized populations 15,20,27,34,50 and previous studies that include questions related to user satisfaction using PMAQ-AB data were not based on statistical techniques for decision-making.…”