International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance

Purpose – The aim of this study is to describe how Swedish women, planned for vaginal birth, perceive the quality of intrapartal care that they receive and the subjective importance they ascribe to their care.

Design/methodology/approach – The study was nested within a Swedish national survey of intrapartal care. The women whose care was investigated were invited to participate in the current study by the midwife who attended the birth. A total of 1,173 women agreed to answer a questionnaire about “quality of general care” and “quality of specific intrapartal care” at two months postpartum. The questions were posed in two ways, the perceived reality (PR) of care given and the subjective importance (SI) the women ascribed to this care.

Findings – A total of 739 women (63 percent) returned their questionnaires. Scores for PR and SI for “quality of general care“ were in the main high (PR range 2.98-3.81; SI range 2.85-3.85, out of a possible 4) and also for “quality of specific intrapartal care” (PR range 3.15-3.86; SI range 3.23-3.86, out of a possible 4). A total of 12 items showed statistically significantly higher scores for SI than for PR. Of the women, 81 percent agreed fully or mostly that the birth of their child was a positive experience.

Originality/value – The way in which women answer questions about intrapartal care reflects the way in which the questions are posed. This study therefore has asked not only how care was perceived but also what importance individual women ascribed to different areas of their care. The questionnaire used in this study allows identification of areas where “what is, could be better”.