The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS, a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA

Postpartum Surveys/Client Satisfaction

I have a survey questionnaire and have used it but have a hard time getting the moms to return it filled out. Here it is:

1. Is there anything that you would have changed about your birth if you could have? What?
2. Are the things that you would like to change, something I can do or not do and if so what?
3. Were your pre-natals adequate? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
4. Please give me a brief description of your thoughts about your birth experience. Include all, feelings and observations. Use another paper if you need to. I would also like to print this description up to share with others if you give me the permission but if not that is okay too. I would also print up a copy for you. Then you can have it for future reference when the baby is older. I have always written down my births and look back on them and reminisce. My children also love reading about their births.
5. Did you feel taken care of and cared for at your birth by all in attendance?
6. Do you have any suggestions for me to improve my practice?
7. Did you like the essential oils used at your birth? Did you feel like they made a difference?
8. Do you feel like you would refer me to your friends and family? Why or why not?
9. Do you feel like you communicated adequately to me before labor so I know what you wanted or needed when the time came?
10. Have you had an Epidural before? If so was this drugless birth better or worse? What helped that might have made the difference?

We do a really simple form that we also use for references for clients.

• Why did you choose to have your baby at home?
• Describe your labor and birth.
• What was your favorite aspect of your baby's birth?
• What would you do differently if you had another baby?
• How can we improve our services?

We do take suggestions for improvement into consideration.

One thing that helps with clients remembering the truth about the birth: We give all our clients copies of their labor and delivery records. We personalize them with who was present, who said or did what, along with FHTs, BPs, positions, times, etc. We go over the records with them, usually at the first pp visit. Women especially appreciate having a written record as they can be in a surreal state while laboring.

Regarding the client satisfaction survey and our response to their responses: We have just recently begun using a post-partum questionnaire to help us with the MANA statistics form. We ask some questions that help us fill out the form, and some questions that are just for our use about how they feel about our care. So, in addition to questions like, "Did you do perineal massage with oil during the last trimester?" (MANA question), we also ask them what topics they wished were covered more thoroughly in class, and if they thought their prenatal visits were too long or too short. We also ask what they think are the strengths of our program and what they think would improve our care. Most of the responses have been very positive and fun to read, and those who had any suggestions for improvement were gentle and courteous with their comments. We include a SASE, but not everyone returns the evaluation.

So maybe we just get the good ones back. In all, it has been a positive experience to get the evaluations and has also made the MANA form easier to fill out.