Metrics details. Quality maternal and newborn care is essential for improving the health of mothers and babies.
Low- and middle-income countries, such as Papua New Guinea PNG , face many barriers to achieving quality care for all. Efforts to improve the quality of maternal and newborn care must involve community in the design, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives to ensure that interventions are appropriate and relevant for the target community.
We undertook a qualitative descriptive study in partnership with and alongside five local health facilities, health care workers and community members, using a Partnership Defined Quality Approach. We conducted ten focus group discussions with 68 community members identified through church, market and other community-based groups in East New Britain PNG to explore perspectives and experiences of maternal and newborn care, identify enablers and barriers to quality care and interventions to improve care.
Discussions were transcribed verbatim. Using the WHO framework, we present the findings in accordance with the five experience of care domains. We found that the community reported multiple challenges in accessing care and facilities were described as under-staffed and under resourced.
Community members emphasised the importance of good communication and competent, caring and respectful healthcare workers. Both women and men expressed a strong desire for companionship during labor and birth. Several changes were suggested by the community that could immediately improve the quality of care. Community perspectives and experiences are critical for informing effective and sustainable interventions to improve the quality of maternal and newborn care and increasing facility-based births in PNG.
