Women’s Perception of Continuity of Team Midwifery Care in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Understanding the pregnant women’s perception of continuity of team midwifery care is necessary for introducing and implementing this model of midwife-led care in the Iranian maternity services. This qualitative study aims to explore women’s perception of continuity of team midwifery care in Iran. Methods: This research is a qualitative study conducted in Iran to explore women's perception of continuity of team midwifery care during pregnancy, birth and postpartum from October 2019 to August 2020. 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with women individually through a purposive sampling method. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim and analyzed using conventional content analysis. Results: From the data analysis, two themes, four main categories, and nine subcategories emerged. The themes were “Maternal empowerment” and “Mother’s satisfaction during the transition from pregnancy to motherhood”. The first theme included two categories of improving self-efficacy during antenatal education classes and the effective midwife-mother interaction. The second theme composed of two categories of satisfaction with the process of pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum as well as satisfaction with motherhood.Conclusion: Findings of this qualitative study highlight the effectiveness of continuity of team midwifery model of care for promoting empowerment and satisfaction in women during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. The results of this study could pave the way for developing, introducing and implementing the midwife-led continuity models of care in Iran.