Quality of Antenatal Care in Governmental Primary Health Care Centers in the Gaza Strip as perceived by Nurses and Midwives: An Indication for Policy Change

Abstract

Introduction: Providing antenatal care (ANC) to pregnant women has positive impact on the health of mothers and their newborns. Provided ANC should be of high quality to have such an impact. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of ANC services provided by the governmental primary health care centers in the Gaza Strip as perceived by nurses and midwives providing ANC to this group of health service users. Design: A cross sectional descriptive design was used in this study. Participants of the study were all nurses and midwives (55 participants) who provide ANC at governmental primary health care centers in the Gaza Strip. Results: Results showed that about half (50.9%) of the participants were between 36 – 45 years, the majority of them (72.7%) have more than 10 years of work experience. 40% of participants hold a diploma in midwifery and about one third of them (34.4%) were from Gaza Governorate. Results showed high scores of all study variables and domains. Participants thought that emotional support was the most essential feature of quality of antenatal care and that they are following the national standards criteria related to providing ANC. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that nurses and midwives working at the governmental primary health care centers are providing their clients a high quality ANC service according to national guidelines of ANC. However, this was the perception of the nurses and midwives who provide the services . An assessment of the quality of delivered ANC as perceived by service users is needed to get a full picture of the actual quality of ANC services.