Midwives’ perception of postnatal care provided in Ntcheu District
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Date
2015-12-01
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Abstract
Postnatal care is one important aspect of maternal and new born health services. The physiological changes which occur in the postnatal period put the mother and neonate at risk of complications that, if comprehensive postnatal care is not given, may result in disability including death. Providing postnatal care therefore, reduces the risk of postpartum complications which cause 60% of all maternal and neonatal deaths. The study aimed at exploring midwives' perception of postnatal care provided in Ntcheu district health facilities. The study used a cross sectional qualitative design. Data was collected from purposive sampling of 24 participants through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews using semi-structured interview guides. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic content analysis which generated the following themes: knowledge of postnatal care, availability and use of postnatal care protocols, factors perceived to promote delivery of postnatal care and hindrances to effective provision of postnatal care. Descriptive statistics were computed for the demographic variables. The study findings indicate that midwives in Ntcheu regard postnatal care as important because it helps in identification of complications, which if managed appropriately, lead to health outcomes. Midwives also viewed postnatal period as the time to promote health behaviour through health education and counselling thereby promote health outcomes. Findings revealed that although midwives considered postnatal care as important, midwives failed to provide some of the crucial elements of PNC due to lack of human and material resources, inadequate space to provide PNC, negative attitude of providers and lack of supervision.