Perceptions of women who utilized public postpartum health care serivices in Sapporo City, Japan

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to describe the characteristics and their perceoptions of women who utilized public postpartum heath care service of Sapporo City in the first Fisical Year. In this study, the perceptions deal with women's awareness related to their postpartum experiences and care.

Methods

Participants include women who had received the postpartum care service funded by Sapporo City in Fiscal Year 2016. The postpartum care service program was offered at six midwifery clinics. We used the methodological triangulation design with a quantitative and qualitative survey. The quantitative survey was conducted via a self-administered questionnaire on women's characteristics and the contents of or satisfaction with the care that they received. Additionally, we conducted semi-structured interviews with the women to collect data on their perceptions regarding the postpartum care service. We analyzed the quantitative data using IBM SPSS 22, and the qualitative data were analyzed using the Rapid Anthropological Assessment Procedure (RAP).

Results

Data were collected from September, 2016 to March, 2017. In total, 57 women responded to the questionnaire, and 21 women participated in the interview. Findings revealed that 49 (86.0%) women were satisfied with the postpartum care service program funded by Sapporo City, but a few were dissatisfied. The analysis of the qualitative data yielded following seven categories pertaining to the perceptions of the women: spending the postpartum period at the delivery facilities, the suffering experienced after childbirth, reason for using the postpartum care service, experience of the postpartum care service, advantage of midwifery clinics for the postpartum care service program, expenses toward the postpartum care service, and women's demands for the postpartum care service.

Conclusion

Most of the women who utilized the postpartum care service program of Sapporo City were satisfied with the care. They recognized some difficulties related to childrearing and their own postpartum condition, and acknowledged the usefulness of the postpartum care. All women hoped that the public financial support for postpartum care would continue and expand.