Women's and Care Providers' Perspectives of Quality Preconception Care: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Fatemeh Ghaffari Sardasht; Zahra Motaghi; Afsaneh Keramat; Mohammad Shariati; Nahid Akbari

doi:10.4103/ijnmr.ijnmr_260_20

Women's and Care Providers' Perspectives of Quality Preconception Care: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2022 Aug 9;27(4):337-345. doi: 10.4103/ijnmr.ijnmr_260_20. eCollection 2022 Jul-Aug.

Authors

Fatemeh Ghaffari Sardasht¹, Zahra Motaghi², Afsaneh Keramat³, Mohammad Shariati⁴, Nahid Akbari⁵

Affiliations

¹ Student Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
² Assistant Professor, Department of Reproductive Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
³ Professor, Department of Reproductive Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
⁴ Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Assistant Professor of Reproductive Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Chief of the Population and Reproductive Health Office, Population Family and School Health Department, Deputy of Health, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Background: A growing body of evidence is showing that Preconception Care (PCC) can increase the health and well-being of women and couples and improve subsequent pregnancy and child health outcomes. The present study aimed to determine the quality of preconception care from women's and care providers' perspectives.

Materials and methods: This qualitative study was conducted in 2020 using conventional content analysis approach. Face to face Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 reproductive age women and 12 midwives recruited from urban health centers across Shahroud, Iran. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: Three major themes based on Donabedian's model emerged during data analysis: structure, process and outcome of care. Midwives and women's experiences of quality of preconception care included problems in organizing care, poor education performance of personnel and low-sensitivity about importance of preconception care in women.

Conclusions: The findings suggest key considerations for the organizing and delivery of preconception care. Most especially, it seems necessary to adopt appropriate strategies to improve public awareness about the importance of pre-pregnancy care.

Keywords: Delivery of care; Iran; Quality of health care; preconception care; qualitative research.