Challenges and Strategies for Providing Effective Antenatal Education Services in Oman’s Public Healthcare System: Perspectives of service providers and pregnant women

Objectives: Globally, maternal mortality is considered a critical healthcare issue because statistics consistently show that many avoidable deaths and injuries occur during pregnancy and childbirth. The aim of this research was to explore the challenges to quality antenatal education from the perspective of both the service providers and the pregnant women. Methods: This qualitative study was carried out on 30 participants who were selected using purposive sampling technique. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and field notes and analyzed manually using thematic analysis. Results: The service providers identified their challenges as lack of consultation room and designated space for health education, work overload, time constraints, under-staffing, lack of educational materials, language barriers, lack of authority and negative attitude. The pregnant women identified lack of focus on women’s needs, superficial antenatal education, overcrowding, lack of educational facilities, use of medical jargon and unprofessional staff attitude towards women as key barriers to quality service. The remedies included improved staffing levels, designated space for antenatal education, expanded educational activities, continuing education for caregivers, establishing midwife-led units, focused antenatal education and improved communication between providers and the users. Conclusion: Based on the results, both health care service providers and pregnant women experienced significant barriers that hindered them from providing and accessing quality antenatal education services respectively. Therefore, policymakers, health planners and hospital administrators should remove these barriers and integrate some of the recommendations to promote better health outcomes. Keywords: Antenatal Education; Challenges; Strategies; Health Care Providers; Pregnant Women; Oman