Assessment of patient satisfaction and perception of quality of antenatal care services among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at a secondary health care facility in Anambra State, Nigeria.

Introduction: Prenatal care is an important component of maternal care worldwide more so in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methodology: This work is a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out among 170 pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in health facilities in Ekwulobia, Anambra state. Convenience sampling technique was used in this study. The study instrument was a semi structured interviewer administered questionnaire which was developed according to the objectives of the study. In this study we evaluated patient waiting time, pregnancy outcome, quality of care, attitude of staff and facility neatness as parameters for measuring patient satisfaction, we also evaluated quality of service, attitude of staff, proximity to ANC centre, waiting time and cost as determinants of ANC use.

Result: The study showed a demonstration of good knowledge of ANC and its importance in maternal and child health, 65.6% were aware of first trimester has the most appropriate time for ANC booking. A high level of satisfaction was recorded among the participants, 65.6% rated the ANC services as very good and 30.3% rated the service as good.

Conclusion: Pregnant women in rural areas in eastern Nigeria receive quality and accessible antenatal care services and majority of the women are satisfied with the quality of service. Efforts to improve maternal and child health status in Eastern Nigeria is yielding fruit especially in rural areas. It is recommended that similar studies studies be conducted in other parts for the country to discover the conditions of ANC use and i effects and compare the factors that influence ANC use