Receiving antenatal care via mobile clinic: Lived experiences of Jordanian mothers

Abstract

Objective: To understand the perceptions of pregnant Jordanian women who received antenatal care via mobile clinic, and to contribute new insights into the experiences of these mothers and how they evaluated the services that were available.

Methods: Ten Jordanian mothers who had received antenatal care at a mobile clinic discussed their experiences in semi-structured, audiotaped interviews in a study that adopted a qualitative research design. The analysis was done using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Results: Three main themes were identified: Being informed about the medical campaign or missing the opportunity of being informed; The experience of receiving antenatal care was wonderful, although there was only one thing lacking; and they safeguard our life and take any opportunity to educate us.

Conclusion: Data indicate that the mothers were largely satisfied with most facets of the antenatal care services they had received at the mobile clinics. However, while services are generally well received, there are clear opportunities for ameliorating the quality of services provided. For mothers living in remote, deprived areas, outreach is not just an 'optional extra' but rather an essential service.

Keywords: Jordan; Mobile health units; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Prenatal care; Qualitative research.