Global Satisfaction With Perinatal Hospital Care: Stability and Relationship to Anxiety, Depression, and Stressful Medical Events

To evaluate the stability of global maternal satisfaction with perinatal hospital care during the post-partum period and its relationship to anxiety, depression, and stressful medical events, a cohort study of 300 mothers delivering at a university hospital was performed during the first month postpartum. Satisfaction, measured on a 4-point Likert scale (0-3), declined from 2.75 +/- 0.03 (mean +/- standard error) before hospital discharge to 2.48 +/- 0.04 at 1 month postpartum (P = .000), and only 69.5% of mothers very much satisfied predischarge remained so at 1 month (P = .000). Predischarge satisfaction declined with greater medical events (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.74, 0.97, P < .05) and with concomitant anxiety (AOR= 0.92, CI= 0.89, 0.95, P< .001); reduced satisfaction at 1 month was associated with high anxiety (AOR = 0.97, CI = 0.95, 0.98) and depression (AOR = 0.96, CI = 0.93, 0.99) at that time. Thus, perinatal satisfaction may be time-dependent and associated with contemporaneous medical and psychological changes.