Satisfaction with obstetric care: relation to neonatal intensive care

Abstract

Objective: To examine the relationship between admitting children to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and mothers' satisfaction with obstetric care.

Methods: Mothers of live-born infants who are now normal were interviewed about their perceptions of the interpersonal, organizational, and technical care they and their babies received during pregnancy, delivery, and the neonatal period, and their and their infants' health. Comparisons between the responses of mothers whose babies were admitted to the normal nursery (n = 595) and those whose babies were sent to an NICU (n = 72) were made by chi2 analysis (1 df) and Wilcoxon rank sum tests.

Results: Mothers whose babies were admitted to an NICU were more likely to complain that their obstetricians did not explain things in terms they could understand (P < .05); did not give them the right amount of information about what to expect during pregnancy (P < .05); hid something from them before delivery (P < .001); did not explain the reasons for tests performed during delivery (P < .05); misled them about their child's prognosis (P < .001); failed to treat properly a problem during delivery (P < .05); and did not know the latest medical developments (P < .05).

Conclusion: Even when children do well, admission of newborns to an NICU is associated with greater maternal dissatisfaction with obstetric care.