'Shedding light' on the challenges faced by Palestinian maternal health-care providers

Objective: to explore the challenges and barriers faced by Palestinian maternal health-care providers (HCPs) to the provision of quality maternal health-care services through a case study of a Palestinian public referral hospital in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Design and method: descriptive qualitative study. The data are from a broader study, conducted in 2005 at the same hospital as part of a baseline assessment of maternal health services. Participants: 31 maternal HCPs; nine midwives and 14 nurses and eight doctors. Findings: the quality of care provided for women and infants at this Palestinian public hospital is substandard. The maternal HCPs work within a difficult and resource-constrained environment. Issues include: high workload, poor compensation, humiliation in the workplace, suboptimal supervision and the absence of professional support and guidance. Midwives are perceived to be at the bottom of the health professional hierarchy. Conclusions: there is a need for managers and policy makers to enable maternal HCPs to provide better quality care for women and infants during childbirth, through facilitating the roles of midwives and nurses and creating a more positive and resourceful environment. Implications for practice: Palestinian midwives need to increase their knowledge and use evidence-based practices during childbirth. They need to unite and create their own circle of professional support in the form of a Palestinian midwifery professional body. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.