A Facility-Based Cross-Sectional Study on Mothers perceived satisfaction towards the care provided by the health care personnel during labour in Sikkim- Protocol study

Abstract

Background: Labour is a process by which the fetus, placenta and membrane are expelled from the birth canal.  Child birth for the mother is a sentinel life event. Giving birth for the first time is anxiety provoking yet exciting in the lives of most women. The complex physical, psychological and emotional experience of labour affects every woman differently¹.Satisfaction is the one of the most frequently reported outcome measures for quality of care. Assessment of satisfaction with maternity services is crucial, and psychometrically sound measures are needed if this is to inform health practices.

Methods: This is an observational study with facility based Cross-Sectional design aims to test the primary outcomes to assess mothers perceived satisfaction towards the care provided by the health care personnel of Sikkim. The secondary outcome is to compare the variation in mothers perceived satisfaction towards the care provided by the health care personnel within Government and private Hospitals and to find the association between mothers perceived satisfaction with baseline variables. 178 mothers (6 months of data collection period) who underwent Normal vaginal delivery (within 24 hours) in Government and Private Hospitals of Sikkim,  can understand and speak either Nepali/English/ Hindi and willing to participate in the study will be recruited in the study through convenience sampling. Mothers who will be admitted in the hospital after home delivery, having intrauterine fetal death, Psychiatric illness and underwent LSCS will be the exclusion criteria. The data will be collected through Semi structured & structured interview-based questionnaire on the basis of objectives and variables under study. The collected data will be analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics.

Discussion: It is a well-established fact that maternal satisfaction on the provided service could enhance subsequent utilization and compliance with medical treatments. However, there is a limited study regarding the extent of mothers' satisfaction and perception with the care provided during labour by the health care provider in India and Sikkim. Hence, the result of this study will provide evidence regarding mothers Perceived satisfaction towards the care provided by the health care personnel during labour and its determinants.