The Evaluation of Prenatal Care Content of Women Who Gave Birth in A University Hospital

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate prenatal care services both qualitatively and quantitatively. Methods: Target population of the descriptive study consisted of 2649 women who had given birth at a university hospital within the past year. The study was implemented with 336 women had just given birth and been hospitalized in maternity services between February-June 2017 and volunteered to participate in the study using the sampling method with a known population. The data were collected with forms for socio-demographic characteristics, obstetrical characteristics, health care received during pregnancy and determination of education. The data were evaluated using descriptive statistics, number, percentage and mean. Results: Age average of the women was 28.92±5.71 years. It was determined that average number of follow-ups during pregnancy was 8.05±3.78 and 80.9% of them had their follow-ups at the hospital, 83.3% were followed by nurses and midwives and 86% had begun to be followed before the week 14. Majority of healthcare services received throughout pregnancy were ultrasonography (USG), non-stress test (NST) and blood test. The areas with minimum training throughout pregnancy were determined as mouth and dental health, smoking and alcohol abuse, etc. in pregnancy. It was determined that the women had mainly trained on breast milk and breastfeeding (56.5%) and less than half of them had trained on neonatal care, feeding, family planning, etc. in the preparation to the postpartum period. Conclusion: The quality of prenatal care remains insufficient and thus, it is required to increase it. It is suggested to plan interventions for the medical personnel to be more sensitive about the quantity and quality of prenatal care services