Women's Satisfaction with Prenatal Care Settings: A Focus Group Study

Background: Patient satisfaction is considered, together with health status, to be an outcome of the delivery of health care services as well as a measure of its quality. A focus group study of 50 low-income Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, African-American, and white women in Chicago, Illinois, explored the characteristics of prenatal care that affect women's satisfaction. Methods: Transcripts from the focus groups were analyzed using researcher-derived coding categories to develop broad themes. Results: Despite their diverse ethnic backgrounds, participants revealed few differences with respect to what they value in prenatal care. Aspects of care that appeared to affect women's satisfaction included the "art of care," the technical competence of the practitioner, continuity of caregiver, and the atmosphere and physical environment of the care setting. The one characteristic that did not appear to affect satisfaction was the caregiver's ethnicity. Conclusion: Knowledge of how the characteristics of prenatal care affect women's satisfaction can help increase use of care and ultimately improve perinatal outcomes.