An assessment of women's satisfaction with maternity care during labour and birth in a referral hospital in Namibia.

BACKGROUND

Women are vulnerable to being exposed to disrespect and abusive behaviours from maternity care providers caring for them in health facilities. This paper aims to describe women's perception and assess their level of satisfaction with maternity care during labour and birth in a referral hospital in north-eastern Namibia.

METHODS

A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted at a referral hospital in north-eastern Namibia from March to May 2024. The questionnaires were shared with 300 women aged 18-45 years in the postnatal ward who were randomly sampled. The SPSS statistical package was used to analyse the data using descriptive statistics and Chi-square for association. To affirm statistical significance, we used p-values of < 0.05 with a 95 % confidence interval.

FINDINGS

All questionnaires were collected from women, which is a 100 % response rate. Results show that the mean age of participants was 27 (SD ± 6.04) years. Most of our participants (73 %; n = 220) had a Normal Vertex birth, and only 27 % (n = 80) had caesarean section. Almost all (98 %) women were satisfied with the services and were more likely to recommend the facility to others (94 %). The level of satisfaction was influenced by respect for women's choices, culture, privacy and maternal care provider's attitude (p = < 0.001). We found no association between the level of overall satisfaction with care and mode of birth or age.

CONCLUSION

Women were satisfied with the maternity care they received in a referral hospital. Their level of satisfaction is significantly associated with their willingness to refer others to this facility for similar services. Views of maternity care providers and birth companions need to be investigated to determine their opinion of care and service improvement means from their perspective.