Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation for assessment of the quality of practice of health practitioners during preconception, prenatal and postnatal cares

 Introduction: According to the World Health Organization statement the key to prevent maternal mortality is high quality health care. Assessment the quality of maternal care is the first step to improve the caring practice. This study was aimed to assess the quality of preconception, prenatal and postnatal care by health practitioners, using objective structured clinical evaluation (OSCE) tests.  Material and Methods: 105 physicians and midwives, who were members of health center number three in Mashhad (IRAN), were entered this cross-sectional study by census method. Data gathering tools included: demographic questionnaire and three Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) tests for preconception, prenatal and postnatal cares. All participants filled out the demographic data questionnaire and then passed the stations of Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation tests, which were designed for imaginary clients.  Results: Data showed that the best practice performed during the preconception (98.1%) and the weakest during the postnatal cares (49.52%). In the subject of prenatal care, recording the medical history (100%) and immunization (65.7%), in the subject of prenatal care, recording the medical history (100%) and supplement prescription (24.76%) and in the subject of postnatal care, the evaluation of parturient mother (98.09%) and providing health advice (57%), obtained the highest and lowest scores, respectively. There were significant differences between age (P=0.04) and working experience (P=0.006) with quality of preconception care, and between the educational degree with quality of prenatal care. Conclusion: Our study showed that the quality of care during postnatal has been weak and unsatisfactory. However, since the quality of postnatal care has an important impact on maternal and neonatal mortality rate, appropriate training for educating the health care providers is strongly suggested