Rwanda is actively striving towards an optimal high-quality health care system. It is also one of few African countries that have managedto fulfil the 5th Millennium Development Goal (MDG5) of reducing maternal mortality by over 75% during the period 1990 -2015. Progress in maternal and child health is being made. However maternal mortality, and also morbidity remains high. Judith Mukamurigo, a PhD student at the University of Gothenburg (GU) is carrying out a research entitled “The Quality of Intrapartum care in health facilities in Rwanda”. Her research aims to assess the professional handling of labour and birth as well women´s experience about the quality of care received.
Mukamurigo wants to understand the quality of care provided to women and their infants around intrapartum period. Her research expects to bring out ways to improve the health system in terms of maternal health care especially around childbirth in Rwanda.
Her research focuses on investigating how women’s overall childbirth experience relates to their perceptions of childbirth care while exploring the meaning of a poor childbirth experience, as expressed by women who had given birth. Judith’s research also aims to advocate for the adaptation of Childbirth Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) to the Rwandan context and determines its psychometric properties.
What are the major scenarios in your research?
The results of my research, add to the evidence of women’s perceptions of childbirth care and how they relate to the overall childbirth experience. The independent predictors of a good experience are interlinked and are also useful indicators for care with good quality. To further improve childbirth care for women according to their preferences, it is important to make sure that childbirth care includes the following quality aspects in national and clinical guidelines: Building confidence, providing good information, treating women and families with respect and providing good professional support.
What do you see as the outcome from your research?
My research shows that the care provided around childbirth is less effective. Some women are exposed to disrespectful care. Thus, there is need to focus on strategies to implement respectful maternity care for all women. The barriers for health care providers to behave respectfully need to be further investigated, and education programmes for midwives/nurses about professional behaviour should be implemented.
Any experience from your lifetime in Sweden?
Since midwifery program is advanced in Sweden, I believe that my time at the Institute of Health Care Sciences has opened the doors to my colleagues/students and strengthen the partnership between our Universities in term of fieldwork and practices in this program.