Abstract
M.Cur.
Background
One of South Africa’s leading private healthcare groups launched a midwife-led service, where clinically low risk pregnant women are being seen during the antenatal, labour and postnatal period of pregnancy. This midwife-led care is being rendered from within a maternity ward situated in the acute hospital facility. Due to the huge number of the South African population that do not have medical aid, but still earn an average income above the tax threshold, the private healthcare group is focusing on rendering these services to the clients without medical aid. Since there are very few midwifery-led childbirth practices in the private sector in South Africa, very little is known about the birth outcomes and client satisfaction in these practices.
The objectives of this research were to explore and describe birth outcomes and to determine client satisfaction with midwifery-led care.
Methods
An explorative and descriptive quantitative research design was used to identify and understand the outcomes of midwife-led births and the clients’ satisfaction with the care rendered. The purposive sample of fifty seven women was taken from a population of low risk pregnant women who made use of midwife-led care at the private facility. Data were gathered by utilising a birth outcomes checklist, and a survey to establish client satisfaction. The birth outcomes checklists were completed retrospectively, after the delivery of the baby, by using the clinical records of the client. The surveys on client satisfaction were done on the day of discharge, by means of a short questionnaire being completed by the client. Both tools were checked for reliability and validity. Data from the birth outcomes checklist and the questionnaire were analysed by making use of descriptive statistics.
Results
The birth outcomes of the low risk pregnant women were recorded in a similar way as the American college of nurse-midwives annual reports for midwives. Measuring was done on low risk birth outcomes such as induction of labour, normal vaginal deliveries (NVD) versus caesarean sections (CS) or if it was an assisted delivery such as a...