Background & aim: Maternal satisfaction of HEALTH services is an inherent element of HEALTHcare policies, and quality of midwifery care essentially influences this parameter. This study aimed to evaluate maternal satisfaction of postpartum care and its association with midwifery care at the urban HEALTH centers of Mashhad, Iran in 2012.Methods: This descriptive, cross sectional study was conducted on 411 mothers selected via multistage sampling from 16 urban HEALTH centers in Mashhad, Iran in 2012. Data were collected using the structured questionnaire of maternal satisfaction and observation checklists to assess the technical and communication skills of midwives. Data analysis was performed in SPSS V.16.Results: Among the aspects of midwifery care, 92% of postnatal women were satisfied with consultation and training, 92.3% were satisfied with the technical competency of midwives, and 96.6% were satisfied with the communication skills of midwives. Moreover, high levels of maternal satisfaction of midwifery services were reported in dimensions of providing demographic and delivery history, use of dietary supplements and breastfeeding, and performing physical examinations (blood pressure measurement and scleral examination). However, no significant coloration was observed between maternal satisfaction and quality of care (P<0.05).Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the majority of mothers were satisfied with the quality of postnatal care and midwifery services. Considering the desirable level of maternal satisfaction with the competency of clinical staff, which could not be authentically cited due to the limited information of mothers regarding professional medical care, special attention must be paid to the enhancement of the performance and responsiveness of midwives. In addition, identification of the causes of poor HEALTHcare services in the provision of postnatal care requires further investigation.

Proper physical development is one of the reliable criteria for evaluation of children’s HEALTH status, especially in the first two years of life. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between MOTHER’S general HEALTH and growth of below-6-month-old infants referred to HEALTH centers of west of Ahvaz. This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was performed on mothers of 200infantsunder 6months old who had referred to HEALTH centers in west of Ahvaz. The study data were collected using the 28-item General HEALTH Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and were analyzed using the SPSS statistical software, version 15. The results indicated that the mean score of the mothers’ general HEALTH was 13.52. Besides, 54% of the mothers (N=107) were mentally HEALTHy, while 46% (N=93) had mental disorders. Moreover, mean scores of anxiety and insomnia (4.2) and social function (3.54) were higher compared to other indicators of general HEALTH. The results showed a significant relationship between mothers’ mental HEALTH status and infants’ weight and head circumference at birth and two months of age. Besides, a significant correlation was found between mothers’ education level and head circumference growth trend. Also, mothers’ age and economic status were significantly associated with infants’ weight gain and head circumference growth trends. The study results indicated that maternal risk factors, such as age, mental status, and education level could play an important role in infants’ growth. Therefore, identifying other risk factors and focusing on their reduction in HEALTH programs are necessary to guarantee community’s HEALTH.

Background &Aims: Improving MOTHER’S HEALTH can lead to socio-economic development of any society. In this regard, social support and social capital are important determinants of HEALTH. The present study tends to examine the path analysis of these social determinants on Physical and Psych-social dimensions of mothers’ HEALTH in Sirjan city.Materials & Methods: In this descriptive-correlation study, 150 mothers (who were referred to HEALTH centers in Sirjan) were selected using random sampling. Three questionnaires measuring social capital, social support and HEALTH (SF-36) were employed to collect data. The data were analyzed by SPSS and AMOS Softwares.Results: The findings of the current study revealed the higher score of physical component summary of HEALTH than psychosocial component. Social capital and social HEALTH had significant and direct relation with both dimensions of MOTHER’S HEALTH (p<.05).Social capital due to social support affected MOTHER’S HEALTH, in addition of having direct effect. The final model showed that 73% of physical HEALTH, and 59% psychosocial HEALTH variance were attributed to social support and social capital.Conclusion: This study revealed mediator effect of social support in relation to maternal HEALTH. In this regard developing plans to promote mothers psycho-social HEALTH, and paying more attention to the role of social relationships and protective factors is recommended.

Background and Objective: Although pregnancy is a pleasurable period for most women, but generally, it is a stressful period with physical and psychological changes. Mothers’,worries during pregnancy are associated with more problems in pregnancy. Improving well-being is one of the important goals for pregnant women. The aim of this study was to explore the concerns of pregnancy in nulliparous women. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study was performed through the conventional content analysis via using Granhiem and Landman method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 primiparous mothers in Kashan and data saturation was obtained. Data analysis was performed using the MAXQDA 10 software. Results: Data analysis led to two categories and subclasses. The first category was the mother’, s concerns about her HEALTH during pregnancy, which included the following categories: changes in physical and mental conditions during pregnancy and coping with its, HEALTHy childbirth, family and social support, role playing as a spouse, and Parental role challenges. The second category was the mother’, s concerns about the HEALTH of fetus in pregnancy, which included the following categories: Unpleasant thoughts about fetal formation, responsibility for fetal HEALTH, and Fear of fetal injury during pregnancy and childbirth. Conclusion: Pregnant women during pregnancy suffer from a number of concerns about their own HEALTH and their fetus, which can threaten the HEALTH of both. Therefore, it seems that mothers ‘, HEALTH care providers can help mothers to experience a safer pregnancy by reducing negative thoughts by holding training classes.