Midwive's satisfaction in family physician and referral system: a national study

Objective (s): Family physician and referral system (FPRS) were introduced as a health system reform in Iran, in 2005. The aim of this program was to improve: accessibility to medical services, equity in health care and productivity of human resources. As such general physicians and midwives took responsibility for service delivery. The first step of FPRS was implemented in all rural areas and small cities. The Aim of this study was to assess the satisfaction of midwives as one of the key providers. This was a national cross-sectional study. The study population was midwives working in FPRS through the country. A random sample of midwives responded to a standard questionnaire. Satisfaction was assessed in 4 different areas: contracts, implementation, facilities and housing conditions. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. In all 1772midviwes participated in the study. Most respondents were women (99.8%), married (64.5%); aged between 21 to 40 years (97.1%) and worked in rural areas (62.1%). The satisfaction with contract was very low (8.7%). Satisfaction with program implementation was 9.6%. Satisfaction with facilities ranged from 16.0 to 27.6%. Satisfaction with housing condition ranged from 4.0 to 44.2%. The study findings indicated that the midwives’ satisfaction with the program was low. It seems that improving housing condition is a key point in service continuity in deprived and remote areas of the country.