Maternity care survey 2018: national results
National results of the 2018 Maternity Care Survey. Comparisons have been made with the previous iterations of this survey where this is possible.
7. Postnatal Care in Hospital / Midwife-led Unit
Summary
- Just over four in five women rated their postnatal hospital care positively. This is a slight decrease from 2015 but is in line with 2013 results.
- Almost all women (99 per cent) gave birth in a hospital or midwife-led unit and three in five of them were able to have their partner or someone close stay with them as much as they wanted.
- Women were generally positive about their experience of person-centred behaviours. They were most positive about being involved in their baby’s care as much as possible (95 per cent) and least positive about staff spending enough time with them (74 per cent).
Overall Experience
Just over four in five women (82 per cent) rated the postnatal care, that is care after they gave birth, they received whilst in hospital as either ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ (Figure 7.1). This is decrease from 85 per cent in 2015 but is in line with results from the 2013 survey.
Figure 7.1: Overall experience of postnatal hospital / midwife-led unit care in 2018 and over time
Experience in Hospital or a Midwife-led Unit
Almost all respondents (99 per cent) gave birth in a hospital or a midwife-led unit. Those who gave birth in a hospital / midwife-led unit were asked questions about their experiences of postnatal care there following giving birth.
The survey asked women how long they had stayed in hospital or a midwife-led unit following the birth of their baby. As shown in Figure 7.2, a stay of 1 to 2 days was most common, with 35 per cent of women reporting a stay of this length.
Figure 7.2: Length of stay in hospital / midwife-led unit following birth
Around three in five women (59 per cent) responded that their partner or someone else close to them was able to stay with them as much as they wanted. As shown in Table 3, the most common reason a partner or someone close wasn’t able to stay as much as they wanted was that they were restricted to visiting hours – this was the case for three in ten women (30 per cent).
Table 3: Partner or someone close able to stay as much as wanted[20]
| % |
|
|---|---|
| Yes |
59 |
| No – restricted to visiting hours |
30 |
| No – no accommodation available |
12 |
| No – another reason |
3 |
The vast majority of women (94 per cent) knew who to contact if they needed any further advice or support once they left the hospital / midwife-led unit.
Person-centred Care
The survey asked women whether they agreed or disagreed with nine statements relating to experiences of person-centred behaviours during their postnatal care in hospital / midwife-led unit. As shown in Figure 7.3, women were generally positive about these behaviours, with eight out of the nine statements being rated positively by at least four in five women.
Women were most positive about being involved in their baby’s care as much as possible and being treated with dignity and respect (95 and 90 per cent respectively).
Women were least positive about staff spending enough time with them, with 74 per cent of women rating this positively and 15 per cent rating this negatively.
Figure 7.3: Responses to person-centred statements – Postnatal Hospital / Midwife-led Unit Care
Contact
Email: patientexperience@gov.scot
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