Coverage and Quality of Natal and Postnatal Care: Women's Perceptions, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This paper discusses natal and postnatal care services in Saudi Arabia, as revealed by the National Maternal & Child Health Survey of 1991. The latter was based on a national random sample of 150 clusters, with 6306 households, from urban and rural areas, of five geographic regions. The target of 6294 ever-married Saudi women, 15-49 years old included 6020 currently married women, of whom 1050 reported a pregnancy. Data on maternal care were analysed, including where and why natal care was attended, and for both natal and postnatal care, how much and by whom, by respondents' age, urban-rural residence, geographical location, and education of wife and husband. About three-quarters of the respondents had one or more births within the 5 years preceding the survey, with a total of 4777 children under six. Institutional deliveries reached 86 per cent and about 90 per cent of deliveries were attended by physicians or nurses with a ratio of 2:1. Postnatal care attendance amounted to 88 per cent mainly by physicians than nurses with a ratio of 5:1. In general, the above results describe relatively high coverage with natal and postnatal care services, which can still be improved through health education and community support, particularly of the women. Judging by the high level of institutional care and physician involvement, good quality of care is implied, but needs to be further confirmed, by defining morbidity and mortality patterns.

A simple way to increase service use: triggers of women's uptake of postpartum services

“…Education and employment are thought to empower women to overcome barriers to use, either via better information or improved income. These determinants are seen with postpartum use, and services such as prenatal care in settings as diverse as Saudi Arabia, 1 Karachi, Pakistan, 17 Tunisia and Morocco, 13 Turkey, 18 and a review of studies in the UK 19 . Other factors not measured in our study have been shown to determine the use of postpartum services, namely, maternal age at marriage 20 and use of prenatal care services 21 …”

“…The traditional six‐week postpartum visit is intended to evaluate women's physical and psychological wellbeing and to address their family planning needs. Uptake of this visit by women in different developing countries varies from high levels (88% in Saudi Arabia 1 ), to very low (6% in Yemen 2 ). The use of health services is known to depend on the physical, economic, and social accessibility of the offered services, as well as on the perceived benefit compared with other opportunity costs.…”

Womens' opinions on antenatal care in developing countries: results of a study in Cuba, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Argentina

“…This also may explain why midwives are preferred as providers of antenatal and delivery care. According to Baldo [15] in rural areas in Saudi Arabia women have a stronger preference for female traditional birth attendants. However, receiving care from a male doctor is possible as long as the social rule of having a female nurse in the consultation room is followed.…”

Access and Quality of Postnatal Care in Low- and Middle - Income Countries: A Pragmatic Review

“…Home deliveries are still prevalent in many parts of the world [26]. Women that deliver at home are at high risk of not receiving timely postnatal care [2,[27][28][29][30][31]. They may even be discouraged from seeking postnatal care due to negative attitudes of healthcare providers towards them [32].…”