Comparing the Quality and Quantity of Prenatal Cares Before and after Implementation of Family Physician Program in Rural Areas of Tabriz District-Iran

Implementation of family physician program has increased the attendance of physicians and midwives in rural areas. The effectiveness of these interventions needs to be evaluated. The aim of study was to assess the quantity and quality of prenatal care and Family Physician Program outcomes. In this cross-sectional study, 751 rural pregnant women (12% of study population) of rural Tabriz from 2003 to 2008 were selected using stratified random sampling procedures. Data were extracted from mothers’ health files records and collected with valid check list from 1994 to 2001. Data were analyzed and compared with before and after the program implementation. The results showed that the number of visits by physician and midwife, BMI, Iron supplementation, initiation of first prenatal care and the number of sonography examinations as indicators of prenatal care increased significantly after the family physician program implementation but there were non-significant increase in folic acid and multivitamin supplement therapy and postnatal period care while there was no difference between maternal weight gain, the infants’ height-weight mean score in periods before and after implementing family physician program. The results indicated that the attendance of physician or midwife has improved some of the prenatal care in both quantitative and qualitative aspects but there was no strong evidence on its effectiveness in caring outcomes. As a result, further studies are necessary to determine outcomes of the plan.