While India has made major progress over the past decades to improve the quality of care for women and children, there is still a disparity in proper utilisation of healthcare services. For an expecting mother, the quality of care she receives during and after pregnancy affects not just her health, but also the health of the child. Though there has been an uptick in parents preferring a healthcare organisation for delivery, some facilities still lack the proper quality of care required for the mother. Healthcare professionals such as nurses play a fundamental role in ensuring proper care among women and newborns.
For expecting mothers, several aspects need to be taken care of to ensure a risk-free delivery and postpartum. Here are some areas that need to be improved to ensure the quality of maternal healthcare.
Right Care at the Right Time
For an expecting mother, it is generally advised that before delivery, they should have had at least 8 routine checkups done. This is important for detecting and managing any potential problem and minimising the risk of stillbirth. Any healthcare worker who has attended proper nursing training programs should be able to provide support to women. This includes information related to pregnancy, tips on choosing healthy food and following a healthy lifestyle, educating about family planning, etc.
Positive Communication with Women
Effective communication is required between healthcare workers and expecting mothers to reduce any tension or anxiety they might have towards pregnancy. To make childbirth a positive experience, they should receive every information about their care as well as feel involved in decisions made regarding the delivery of their newborn.
Prevent the Risk of Hospital-acquired Infections
Hospital-acquired infections not only increase the cost of care for a mother but also adds to the risk of disease or even death. That is why healthcare workers need to take extra precautions to prevent such an outbreak. Precautionary steps include washing hands with soap and water or rubbing alcohol-based sanitizer before examining a patient, safe disposal of infectious waste and disinfecting instruments in the procedure room after every delivery.
Healthcare organisations need to have competent, well-trained staff and skilled professionals that are present in sufficient numbers throughout the day to manage the expected workload and sometimes, even emergency cases. That is why the healthcare workforce needs to focus on professional education that builds on their experience and gets them ready for such eventuality. The Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations or CAHO is an eminent body regulating the healthcare organisations that offers various workshops on such areas. They also provide various training programmes like nursing training programs, hospital training programmes, infection control nurse course, etc.
Improving the quality of care for expectant mothers is a good indicator to showcase how much we have progressed as a country. This improvement is not only critical for the safety of the women but also crucial for reducing preventable maternal and newborn mortality.
