Women’s suggestions on how to improve the quality of maternal and newborn care: A qualitative analysis from the IMAgiNE EURO survey in Italy during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Collecting women’s views and suggestions for improving quality of maternal–newborn care (QMNC) is a crucial aspect of maternity care evaluation often overlooked in Italy and globally. Childbearing women experienced numerous challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic including the rapid and significant reorganization of maternity services and care. Their perspective on what to prioritize for QMNC improvement is hence pivotal. The aim of this study was to explore maternal suggestions for QMNC improvement from women who gave birth during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data were collected from an open-ended question included in a validated online questionnaire administered to mothers who gave birth in an Italian hospital between November 2020 to March 2022. The responses were analyzed using thematic analysis and mapped against the WHO Standards for improving QMNC and the WHO Framework of QMNC. Results: The thematic analysis identified five main themes from the 2017 responses: 1) Support for mothers during the postnatal period; 2) Better use of resources; 3) Improvement of the maternity environment; 4) Reconsideration of organizational aspects; and 5) Guarantee of respectful practices. Women commented on all dimensions of the WHO framework except for two provision of care subdomains ‘actionable information and functional referral systems’. Conclusions: This is the first qualitative study in Italy focusing on women’s suggestions for improving QMNC during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its findings can be used to inform what aspects of QMNC need improvement in Italy. Collection of women’s views should be incorporated in routine monitoring of the QMNC, and data should be used for quality improvement purposes.