Maternity Experiences Survey

Background Information

Introduction

The Maternity Experiences Survey (MES) is a national project of the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System (CPSS) managed by the Public Health Agency of Canada's Health Surveillance and Epidemiology Division, Centre for Health Promotion. The CPSS collaborates with Statistics Canada, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), provincial and territorial governments, health professional organizations, advocacy groups and university-based researchers. The mandate of the CPSS is to contribute to improved health for pregnant women, mothers and infants in Canada through ongoing monitoring and reporting on perinatal health determinants and outcomes.

The proposed MES is the first of its kind in Canada. It aims to provide information on important indicators such as use of prenatal care services, abuse in pregnancy, postpartum depression and patient satisfaction with services, which currently have no national data source. The development, implementation, expert analysis and reporting of the survey is being guided by the Maternity Experiences Study Group, which is a multidisciplinary working group of the CPSS.

Primary objectives:

• To document Canadian women's knowledge, experiences and practices during pregnancy, birth and the early postpartum months and their perceptions of perinatal care.
• To provide information for in-depth examination of selected population subgroups deemed to be at higher risk for adverse perinatal health outcomes such as recent immigrants (immigration within the last 5 years) and teenage mothers (< 20 years old).
• To identify areas of strength and areas in potential need of strengthening within the Canadian reproductive and perinatal health care system.

Secondary objectives:

• To provide information for comparing Canadian experiences with reports from other countries based on similar surveys.(Examples of similar studies include large scale surveys completed in South East England [Green et al, 1990], Scotland [Calder and Purton, 1999] and Victoria, Australia [Brown and Lumley, 1994].)
• o further implement Canada's commitment to the United Nations declarations regarding the Rights of Women and the Child (Alcala MJ. Commitments to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for all: Framework for Action. New York : Family Care International, 1995).

Conceptual framework

In recent years there has been increasing recognition of the importance of cultural and psychosocial issues in contributing to the etiology and prognosis of illness.
This is true particularly regarding the care of women and their families during pregnancy, birth and in the postpartum period. The MES provides an opportunity to assess the views and needs of recent mothers directly with regard to their reproductive health care in Canada and its ability to meet the objectives for care.