Perception and level of satisfaction with the quality of antenatal care services among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at plateau state specialist hospital, Jos, Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated pregnant women's perception and level of satisfaction with quality of antenatal care received at Plateau State Specialist Hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study employed a hospital-based cross-sectional design. Convenience sampling was used to select two hundred and thirty-eight (238) women attending antenatal clinic at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital. A validated semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire with a Cronbach's Alpha score of 0.83 was used for data collection. Respondent's perception was measured on a 36-point rating scale and the level of satisfaction on a 9-point rating scale. Data was subjected to descriptive analysis and Pearson's correlation was used to test for hypothesis.

RESULTS: The mean age was 28.79 years. Most of the respondents were married (81.9%), twenty-eight percent of the respondents had two children. The respondent's perception of quality of antenatal care shows a mean score of 25.0± 4.61 which indicates that the respondents had positive perception of the quality of antenatal care (69.4%). Also, the respondent's level of satisfaction with the quality of antenatal care received shows a mean score of 6.50 ± 1.8 indicating that they were very satisfied (72.2%) with quality of antenatal care. There was a significant relationship between the respondent's perception of the quality of antenatal care and level of satisfaction of the quality of antenatal care service (r= 0.43; p< 0.003).

CONCLUSION: The respondents had positive perception and are satisfied with the quality of antenatal care services received. A Periodic patient satisfaction survey should be established as part of the antenatal evaluation to provide feedback for continuous quality improvement.