Comprehensive measurement of maternal satisfaction: The modified Mason Survey

Abstract

A three-stage process was undertaken to identify and modify a tool that was capable of measuring the many aspects of maternal satisfaction relevant to Australian women. First, the scope of maternal satisfaction to be measured was defined by summarizing available literature and surveys purporting to measure maternal satisfaction (including surveys used in maternity services in New South Wales). The multidimensional nature of maternal satisfaction was confirmed, with 16 core aspects (common to the literature and local surveys) and nine additional unique aspects of maternal satisfaction being identified. Second, these core and additional aspects were used to examine the comprehensiveness of the Mason Survey, a survey recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia for use in maternity services. Eighty-eight per cent of the core and additional aspects (22/25) were found to be present in the Mason Survey. Third, an expert panel further modified the Mason Survey by removing items not applicable to the Australian context. The modified Mason Survey is a comprehensive measure of maternal satisfaction suitable for Australian women and capable of providing valuable information on the quality of services and future planning for maternity services.

The comparison of birth outcomes and birth experiences of low-risk women in different sized midwifery practices in the Netherlands

“…The perceived experiences of women were recorded on a Numerical Descriptor Scale with responsive scales from 0 (very negative) to 10 (very positive) categories. The construction of the questionnaire was predominantly based on existing questionnaires from Winters et al, 33 the Mason Survey, 34 van Teijlingen et al, 35 PLDS, 36 W-DEQ, 37 CWS 38 and EPDS. 39 Questions in relation to neonatal birth outcomes were not included in the questionnaire.…”

Seeking Patient Feedback

“…. 16 There is a need to evaluate patient satisfaction with cancer care because of the diversity of patients, complex healthcare needs, and the increased survivorship of this population. 8(p122) There is consensus that patient satisfaction is an important outcome that must be evaluated and measured, 9 reflecting the shift toward patientcentered care within numerous healthcare associations such as the Conseil Québécois d'agrément, Accreditation Canada, the Institute of Medicine, and the public at large.…”

The Bırth Satısfactıon Scale: Turkısh Adaptatıon, Valıdatıon And Relıabılıty Study

“…Since women consult to the health organizations most frequently because of childbirth, evaluation of the women’s level of satisfaction from intra-, and postpartum health care services provided by health care professionals is very important in increasing the quality of health care. Therefore the experiences of women during intrapartum, and postpartum period, and their levels of satisfaction from health care services they received have gained increasing importance [3, 4, 5]. …”

“…Difficulties encountered in the measurement of birth satisfaction include negative effects of this subjective evaluation on objective nature of outcomes, need for a multidimensional assessment, and requirement for combined evaluation of satisfaction, and dissatisfaction, tendency to overestimate satisfaction levels during overall evaluation process, women’s refraining from criticising their health care providing institute, inconveniencies related to the place, and time of the application of the scale, problems arising from ambiguously explained concepts, the impact of the feelings of the mother during immediate postpartum period, and difficulties encountered in the discrimination of alternative responses (ie. inability to perceive the difference between satisfied, and very dissatisfied women) [2, 3, 6, 16]. …”