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Client-centred maternity care from women's perspectives: Need for responsiveness
Violet Petit-Steeghs1, Sarah R Lips1, Tjerk Jan Schuitmaker-Warnaar1
1Athena Institute, Faculty of Science, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Midwifery
|April 1, 2019
Summary
Women want client-centered maternity care that is responsive to their needs across all dimensions. Future improvements should empower professionals with skills for reflective interaction and flexible systems to meet individual preferences.
Area of Science:
- Maternal Health
- Healthcare Quality
- Patient-Centered Care
Background:
- Client-centered care is a key focus in Western maternity systems.
- Current approaches often prioritize professional and policymaker perspectives over women's insights.
- Understanding women's perspectives is crucial for truly woman-centered maternity care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze women's perspectives on maternity care.
- To provide recommendations for achieving genuine client-centered care.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study involving six focus groups (N=43) and 20 semi-structured interviews.
- Participants were women who had given birth within the past year in the North-West Netherlands.
- Data analysis utilized a framework based on existing woman-centered and patient-centered care models.
Main Results:
- Women's feedback highlighted the importance of client, interaction, professional, and organizational dimensions of care.
- While generally positive, women perceived secondary/tertiary hospital care less favorably than primary care regarding responsiveness and continuity.
- Issues included a lack of flexibility in protocols and tokenistic use of tools like birth plans.
Conclusions:
- Client-centered maternity care, from women's viewpoint, requires responsiveness across all four dimensions.
- Future initiatives should move beyond organizational changes to foster responsiveness in all areas.
- Empowering professionals with communication and reflexive skills within flexible systems is essential for meeting women's specific needs.