Maternity care survey 2018: technical report

During your pregnancy, were you given enough information by health professionals on each of the following?

Sub-questions a to g cover various areas that women may require support or information on during antenatal care.

Some aspects were covered previously but types of information expanded to be consistent with those covered in postnatal care questions.

Were you given the ‘Ready, Steady, Baby’ book or a link to the website?

Included following cognitive testing suggested this had been important source of information.

Thinking about all the care you received during your pregnancy, how much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Statements relate to various person-centred behaviours, some of which were included previously.

To gather data on experiences of person-centred care behaviours ^[4]. Consistent with questions used in other Patient Experience surveys.

During the birth, were you cared for by the same midwife / midwife team as during your pregnancy?

Included to inform Best Start evaluation.

Thinking about your care during labour and birth, how much would you agree or disagree with the following statements about your experience?

Statements relate to various person-centred behaviours.

To gather data on experiences of person-centred care behaviours ^[4]. Consistent with questions used in other Patient Experience surveys.

When you left hospital or the midwife-led unit, did you know who to contact if you needed any further advice or support?

To gauge level of ongoing continuity of care once women have left hospital following giving birth.

Thinking about the care you received in hospital after the birth of your baby, how much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Statements relate to various person-centred behaviours.

To gather data on experiences of person-centred care behaviours ^[4]. Consistent with questions used in other Patient Experience surveys.

A range of questions similar to those on hospital care but with a specific focus on neonatal care.

To expand evidence base around experiences of neonatal care services.

Did you experience any difficulties or challenges feeding your baby in this way?

Included following cognitive testing suggested this had been something which impacted on women’s maternity experience.

Do you feel you had enough advice and support to care for your baby after the birth?

Included following cognitive testing suggested this had been something which impacted on women’s maternity experience.

After the birth of your baby, were you given enough information and support by health professionals on each of the following?

Sub-questions a to f cover various areas that women may require information or support on during postnatal care.

Some aspects were covered previously but types of information expanded to include some areas which cognitive testing suggested had an impact on women’s maternity experience.

Thinking about the care you received at home and in the community after the birth, how much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Statements relate to various person-centred behaviours.

To gather data on experiences of person-centred care behaviours ^[4]. Consistent with questions used in other Patient Experience surveys.

In general, how would you rate your physical health: before pregnancy; during pregnancy; now?

To expand data collected on self-reported health throughout the maternity journey to allow analysis on whether this impacts on experience.

In general, how would you rate your emotional / mental health: before pregnancy; during pregnancy; now?

To expand data collected on self-reported health throughout the maternity journey to allow analysis on whether this impacts on experience.

Demographic question on existing long-term conditions of the respondent.

Included to allow further analysis on exploring differences in experiences for different groups to be done. 

Were you told who to contact if you needed any further advice or support during your pregnancy?

Focus changed from specifically having a phone number to being told who to contact. 

Did a health professional tell you that you would need to arrange a postnatal check-up of your own health?

Broadened to health professional as women may not specifically get this information from a midwife.

What is your age group?

Previously asked respondents to write their age – updated as previous level of detail not required.

Who was the first health professional you saw when you thought you were pregnant?

Data has limited use, removed in order to prioritise questions of more value or relevance.

Roughly how many weeks pregnant were you when you first saw this health professional?

Data has limited use, removed in order to prioritise questions of more value or relevance.

Before your baby was born, did you plan to have a home birth?

Data has limited use, removed in order to prioritise questions of more value or relevance.

Which of the following health professionals did you see for your antenatal check-ups?

Data has limited use, removed in order to prioritise questions of more value or relevance.

Did you have a named midwife?

Duplication of Q3 which asks whether they saw the same midwife every time.

During your pregnancy, did you have a discussion with a health visitor?

Removed as results from 2015 suggested that a large proportion of women felt this was not something they needed / wanted.

Did you have confidence and trust in the staff caring for you during your labour and birth?

Removed to allow room for questions on more specific person-centred behaviours that would generate confidence / trust

Looking back, do you feel the length of your stay in hospital was….

Removed because results from previous surveys provided limited useful insight

Thinking about your stay in hospital, how clean was the hospital room or ward you were in?

Removed because results from previous surveys indicate that experiences are highly positive with little room for improvement

Thinking about your stay in hospital, how clean were the toilets and bathrooms you used?

Removed because results from previous surveys indicate that experiences are highly positive with little room for improvement

During your pregnancy, did midwives provide relevant info about feeding your baby?

Replaced by Q7e which places an emphasis on providing information on the options for feeding.

Did you ever try to breastfeed your baby (even if it was only once)?

Data has limited use, removed to allow space for Q48 which asks about experiencing difficulties with feeding.

When you were at home after the birth of your baby, did you have a telephone number for a midwife that you could contact?

Removed because results from previous surveys indicate that almost all women had a telephone number, but also recognising that other methods of contact may have been available

Since your baby's birth have you been visited at home or by a midwife?

Data has limited use, removed to allow questions on experience of person-centred behaviours.

Since your baby's birth have you seen a midwife at a clinic?

Data has limited use, removed to allow questions on experience of person-centred behaviours.

Was it convenient to see a midwife at a clinic?

Removed as not relevant once F4 removed.

If you saw a midwife for your care at home or in a clinic, did you see the same one every time?

Removed in favour of Q54 as data on continuity of care between antenatal and postnatal care more valuable.

Did you see your named midwife at home or in a clinic after birth?

Removed as not relevant once B10 removed.

How many times in total did you see a midwife after you went home?

Data has limited use, removed to allow questions on experience of person-centred behaviours.

Would you have liked to see a midwife…..

Removed as superseded by Q59f which asks whether staff spent enough time with them

Did you have confidence & trust in the midwives you saw after going home?

Positive experiences of person-centred behaviours are generally correlated to confidence and trust. Question has been removed in favour of questions on specific person-centred behaviours.

Were you given information or offered advice from a health professional about contraception?

Removed because results from previous surveys provided limited useful insight

Have you had a previous pregnancy?

No longer required

How would you rate your health in general?

Removed as superseded by Qs 65 & 66

Do you have a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last 12 months or more?

Removed as superseded by Q67 which is consistent with other patient experience surveys

Does your condition or illness reduce your ability to carry out day-to-day activities?

Removed as not relevant once G5 removed.

What religion, religious denomination of body do you belong to?

No longer required

Which of the following best describes how you think of yourself?

No longer required

In which NHS Board did all or most of your antenatal care take place?

No longer required – NHS Board of Residence at the time of birth taken from administrative data is used as a proxy for this data

Questions on permission to link survey results to information held about hospital stay and consent to be considered as a participant in future research.

These questions were removed as part of the information governance review of this survey. Information about how data will be used was provided to respondents in a privacy notice.