The quality of services provided in the maternity ward ofAyatollah Kashani Hospital in Jiroft (Iran)

Background and Objective: Topnotch services provided through preserving high qualityis a prerequisite to the success of service organizations including maternity hospitals. Sincematernity hospitals play an important role in providing services and promoting women’s healthand that of the entire society, this study attempted to assess the quality of services provided in thematernity ward of Ayatollah Kashani Hospital in Jiroft (Iran). Method: This was a cross-sectional,descriptive study conducted on ۲۳۴ women who went through vaginal delivery in AyatollahKashani Hospital. After ۲ hours of delivery, convenience sampling was carried on the subjects in۲۰۱۹. Data were collected through SERVQUAL standard questionnaire (۱۹۸۸), the validity andreliability of which were confirmed. Data were analyzed by SPSS using descriptive and inferentialstatistics. Results: The results indicated that there is a negative gap in all dimensions of servicequality. The largest gap was observed in assurance (-۵.۶۹) while the lowest gap was in the physicaldimension (-۳.۲). There was a significant difference between women’s expectations andperceptions across all five SERVQUAL dimensions (P۰.۰۰۱). Conclusions: From the women’sperspective, the quality of services was not satisfactory and the significant difference betweenexpected and received services indicates that managers should pay more attention to qualityimprovement programs in maternity hospitals so that increasing the quality of services willpromote women’s health and eventually that of the entire society