Perception of Post-partum Mothers Regarding the Post-partum Care Services Provided by the Public Health Midwives during the First Six Weeks

Abstract

Background: The postpartum period is crucial for a mother's and newborn's long-term health, making postpartum care (PPC) a critical and continuous process. Public health midwives (PHM) play a pivotal role in delivering PPC services during the first six weeks, ensuring high-quality care for maternal and child well-being. Assessing the perception of mothers regarding PPC services by PHM is essential for evaluating effectiveness and identifying areas for improvement. Objective: To assess the perception of post-partum mothers regarding the postpartum care services provided by the PHM during the first six weeks Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 116 post-partum mothers in the Imaduwa MOH area, Galle using a pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 with descriptive and Chi-squared statistics. Results: The majority of mothers had a very good perception of PHMs' performance in newborn care (99.1%), breastfeeding support (92.2%), and family planning and contraception education (85.3%), respectively. Of 65.5% mothers had a good perception of general post-partum care assessment by PHM. However, under general postpartum care assessment, mothers perceived that there was a failure of 33.6% of PHMs to wear gloves during examinations which raises serious concerns about hygiene and infection control, and 40.5% of PHMs did not assess the nutritional status of the mothers. Also, mothers had a poor perception that the frequency of PHM home visits after delivery was 44% and only 12.1% of mothers received all recommended four visits after delivery when comparing with the standard guidelines in maternal and childcare packages. Conclusions: Mothers had very good perceptions of PHMs provided services on newborn care, breastfeeding support, family planning, and contraception education. Also, mothers had a good perception of general PPC assessment. However, there was a failure of PHMs to wear gloves during examinations and PHMs did not assess the nutritional status of the mothers appropriately. Special attention is essential to improve the frequency of home visits after delivery according to the standard guidelines in maternal and childcare packages. Keywords: Assessing, Perception, Post-partum care services, Post-partum mothers, Public Health Midwife 52