Abstract:

Introduction: Poor quality service provision by midwives can prevent women from coming to the hospital to seek care, leading to complications which later cause deaths, increasing the maternal mortality rate. Aim: The study aimed to assess factors affecting provision of quality midwifery care service at Women and New-Born Hospital (WNBH) in Lusaka District of Zambia. Methodology: A cross sectional quantitative research design was used. Data were collected from 385 women and 185 midwives from the various health units using a self-administered questionnaire. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used to test statistical significance between the independent and dependent variables. Results: All participants concurred that midwives did not provide quality midwifery service according to the standards and demonstrated positive attitude towards quality service provision by midwives. Most of the women (203, 52.7%) categorized midwives’ workload as high while a great number of midwives (99, 53.8) considered it as moderate. On knowledge level, majority of women (283, 75.1) had low knowledge levels and (228, 59.2%) had never heard of quality midwifery care, contrasting with findings from midwives which showed that majority (125, 67.9) had high knowledge and (179, 97.3%) had heard about quality midwifery care. There was a statistical significance between age (P-value 0.001), Workload (P=0.000), Knowledge levels (P=0.001) and women’s perception on the midwives’ ability to provide quality midwifery care service. Conclusion: Quality midwifery care services from the perspective of both women and midwives was generally seen to be of poor quality. Poor knowledge on midwifery service quality and increased workload of midwives adversely affect women’s perception of the quality of care received from midwives. Health facility management should educate the public on quality care in order for women to better understand their care quality needs and expectations. Key Words: Quality Care, Midwifery Care, Midwives, Service Quality