Eureka! Institutional Repository

Motherhood undoubtedly plays a significant role in a woman's life and constantly new couples seek to prepare properly for the arrival of the new family member. The professional emancipation of women, the increase of their educational level (expectations, crisis, needs) and the influences from the international standards contributed to this fact. In recent years, the medicalization of childbirth, medications and surgeries have pushed women to desire a normal birth with all the consequences that the normalcy of the procedure offers. After literature review, various studies and researches were found on the preparation of young couples in parenthood, which tend to evaluate women's satisfaction with their childbirth, breastfeeding or the degree of influence of their psychology during the perinatal period. The lack of research on the evaluation of pregnant women’s satisfaction with Prenatal Education Programs, regarding their organization and functionality, was the motivation for this study. More specifically, a study was carried out in which the organization, structure and operation of a Department of Prenatal Education in a public hospital (General Hospital of Thessaloniki Ippokrateio) was investigated and the improvement of its services, in order to strengthen the department organizationally, to benefit more pregnant women and to create future similar departments in Health Units in Greece. The conclusions indicate the need and usefulness for information on Prenatal Education from the woman near childbirth of such programs. The adequacy of this Program is recognized in the knowledge it provided and in meeting the expectations of pregnant women from it. For them, educators become extremely receptive to questions, supportive and willing with a high degree of contagion. Also, there was an increased degree of satisfaction with the ease of access to the building where the lessons are conducted, while the website of the Program is a source of information. The ease of orientation of the building within the hospital, the environment and the equipment, as well as the counseling via mobile telephony, were evaluated to a low degree by the research participants. An additional finding is that in Greece the majority of pregnant women trust obstetricians and not midwives for information and childbirth. There was also an increased participation rate in the Program for pregnant women aged 39-45, indicating an increase the age and desire of women for pregnancy. The present study presents data on pregnant women under the age of 18, who attended the Program and adds data to this demographic-deficient demographic. Finally, the importance of corresponding programs that cover additional needs is presented.