Effectiveness of presence of physician and midwife in quantity and quality of family planning services in health care centers

Abstract

Background and Aim:Iran's health sector has been engaging the services of physicians and midwives in healthcare centers since 2005, with the hope of improving the quantity and quality of family planning services. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of serving physicians and midwives on the quantity and quality of family planning services in the healthcare centers of Iran.Materials and Methods:The present cross-sectional study (Jan 2010 until Sep 2011) was carried out on 600 eligible families who were clients of healthcare centers of Tabriz, Azarshahr and Osku, cities of Northwest Iran from 2006 until 2011, in two groups (before and after). Some of the characteristics of the participants and the data on the quality and quantity of family planning services provided were grouped in a checklist of 16 variables by comparing the patients’ past medical histories.Results:In comparison with 3 years prior to engaging physician and midwife services in health care centers, the Couple Year Protection (CYP) and the quantity of family planning service indexes significantly increased among eligible families. The family size of participants declined significantly after family physicians and midwives became available in the healthcare centers (P < 0.005).Conclusion:Our findings showed some improvement in the quantity of services without any noticeable changes in the quality of services provided as a consequence of this huge intervention. Therefore, it is suggested that there should be proper oversight of the duties of the health team in order to keep a close watch on primary healthcare, design of proper mechanisms for collecting and maintaining performance reports and statistics, and continuously monitor and control the quality of services.

Adequacy of prenatal care and its association with pregnancy outcomes: A comparison of indices in Tabriz, Iran

“…We used a questionnaire for obtaining data that Validity and reliability of this questionnaire were approved by Jabbari et al from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. 17 All the mentioned variables in the questionnaire were obtained through family health profiles. Adequacy of PNC was categorized with R-G index and APNCU that reflect number of visits received and the trimester PNC started throughout the mother's pregnancy, on the other hand these indexes consist of:…”

“…The R-G has six categories of care: no care, inadequate, intermediate, adequate, intensive, and missing. 17 Stratified random sampling in all health centers and private offices were done in 3 times during the years. Pregnant women in these centers from the 6 th week of gestation until 3 months after delivery were included in our study.…”

“…As mentioned in this study between two indices APNCU and R-G significant difference that this result align with all other studies. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Thus, different utilization patterns based on varying degrees of association of inadequate PNC with indices should be considered.…”

“…Most of studies demonstrated the effect of PNC utilization on birth outcomes and suggested that PNC decrease LBW through both increasing gestational age as well as improving fetal growth at the same time it improve birth height and mother weight gaining. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] All findings of these studies emphasize the need for health policies to improve utilization and access PNC.…”

Midwives as drivers of reproductive health commodity security in Kaduna State, Nigeria

“…Several studies have attested to the key role of nurses in providing guidance and effective counselling to women seeking contraception, resulting in an increased uptake of contraceptive methods. [ 10 , 11 ] The engagement of midwives has been reported to significantly increase the use of every contraceptive method except injectables. [ 10 ] Midwives with years of experience are perfectly suited to providing family planning services and information on the benefits and disadvantages of different contraceptive methods.…”