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A Narrative Review of Healthcare Providers Attitude in Enhancing Maternal Care
Subject area: Biological & Medical Sciences · Area of research: Public Health
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I8-1714449
Abstract
Maternal healthcare extends beyond clinical interventions to include the interpersonal experiences between healthcare providers and childbearing women. Provider attitudes, communication styles, and emotional support significantly influence maternal healthcare utilisation, patient satisfaction, and health outcomes across antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care. This narrative review synthesis existing literature to identify maternal care services available to mothers, examine current challenges affecting utilisation, and explore the role of healthcare providers’ attitudes in shaping maternal health experiences. A narrative review methodology was employed, drawing on peer-reviewed articles, policy documents, and clinical guidelines sourced from databases including PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. Literature published between 2010 and 2025 was reviewed and thematically analysed to identify patterns related to maternal care services, utilisation barriers, and interpersonal aspects of maternity care. The review identified a wide range of maternal healthcare services including antenatal screening and counselling, skilled labour and delivery support, and postnatal follow-up services such as breastfeeding education and family planning counselling. Despite the availability of these services, multiple challenges affect utilisation, including structural barriers, sociocultural influences, institutional limitations, and negative provider attitudes. Evidence consistently demonstrated that respectful communication, empathy, trauma-informed approaches, and woman-centred care significantly improve maternal satisfaction, service uptake, and perceived quality of care. The findings highlight the need for health systems to strengthen respectful maternity care policies, improve provider training in communication and emotional support, and address institutional factors influencing provider behaviour. Integrating patient-centred practices into maternal healthcare delivery is essential for enhancing maternal experiences, increasing utilisation of skilled services, and improving maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
References
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How to cite this paper
@article{1714449,
author = {Akinwaleola Awosemusi, Oyesegun Oyerinde},
title = {A Narrative Review of Healthcare Providers Attitude in Enhancing Maternal Care},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {9},
number = {8},
pages = {1997-2009},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1714449.pdf},
abstract = {Maternal healthcare extends beyond clinical interventions to include the interpersonal experiences between healthcare providers and childbearing women. Provider attitudes, communication styles, and emotional support significantly influence maternal healthcare utilisation, patient satisfaction, and health outcomes across antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care. This narrative review synthesis existing literature to identify maternal care services available to mothers, examine current challenges affecting utilisation, and explore the role of healthcare providers’ attitudes in shaping maternal health experiences. A narrative review methodology was employed, drawing on peer-reviewed articles, policy documents, and clinical guidelines sourced from databases including PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. Literature published between 2010 and 2025 was reviewed and thematically analysed to identify patterns related to maternal care services, utilisation barriers, and interpersonal aspects of maternity care. The review identified a wide range of maternal healthcare services including antenatal screening and counselling, skilled labour and delivery support, and postnatal follow-up services such as breastfeeding education and family planning counselling. Despite the availability of these services, multiple challenges affect utilisation, including structural barriers, sociocultural influences, institutional limitations, and negative provider attitudes. Evidence consistently demonstrated that respectful communication, empathy, trauma-informed approaches, and woman-centred care significantly improve maternal satisfaction, service uptake, and perceived quality of care. The findings highlight the need for health systems to strengthen respectful maternity care policies, improve provider training in communication and emotional support, and address institutional factors influencing provider behaviour. Integrating patient-centred practices into maternal healthcare delivery is essential for enhancing maternal experiences, increasing utilisation of skilled services, and improving maternal and neonatal health outcomes.},
month = {February},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I8-1714449}
}