title: Quality assessment of peripartum care.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Maternal health improvement is one of the eight goals of the third millennium development, set in 2000. Pregnancy complications are the most important causes of maternal mortality worldwide. Proper and qualified health care access is one the most important factors for reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to determine quality of peripartum care in Lorestan province in 2013.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, in which quality of peripartum care was assessed among 200 women (sample size was determined according to other studies), referred to Lorestan province public hospitals. Quality assessment according to the WHO was used for the framework of structure, process and outcome. Data was collected by a researcher-made checklist, developed based on the administered instructions by Iran Health Ministry. The checklists were filled by observation. The calculated quality scores were expressed as percentage. SPSS version 18 was used for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean percentages of compatibility with desirable situation were 54%, 57% and 66% in first, second and third stage of labor, respectively. The lowest scores were related to: Leopold maneuvers in the first stage, hand washing in the second stage and pulse control in the third stage of labor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Quality of peripartum care is moderate in Lorestan province, therefore, continuous evaluation of quality of care by administrators and hospital staff is essential to improve this quality and will ultimately result in maternal and neonatal health improvement.
authors: Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, IR Iran.
authors: Farahnaz
authors: F
authors: Changaee
authors: Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors: Masoumeh
authors: M
authors: Simbar
authors: Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, IR Iran.
authors: Alireza
authors: A
authors: Irajpour
authors: Department of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khoramabad, IR Iran.
authors: Soheyla
authors: S
authors: Akbari
keywords: Health Care Quality; Iran; Peripartum