Working time schedule of midwives in obstetric-neonatal unit versus the level of mother satisfaction with care.

: The majority of studies by international and Polish authors focus on the evaluation of the level of patient satisfaction with health care. A relatively small number of reports concern factors which determine satisfaction. According to the modern approach towards care of mother and baby, a mother hospitalized in a rooming-in system is expected to independently take care of her baby and feed it on demand from its birth. A midwife should teach the mother the nursing of the baby and herself, inform, educate, support and communicate. Such care requires that the majority of time is spent with mothers and their babies. It was assumed that one of the organizational factors determining the level of satisfaction with care may be the time devoted by midwives to mothers. The following research problem was formulated: Does working time schedule of midwives taking care of women after labour affect the level of mother satisfaction with care? The results of preliminary studies showed that the percentage of direct nursing time offered to mothers by midwives in obstetric ward was small (29%), while that devoted by midwives to care of babies in neonatal unit was slightly higher (42.5%).