Effect of Training Program on Midwives' Practice related to Postnatal Care at Al Emaraty Maternity Hospital, Gaza Strip – Palestine

Background: Postnatal care is an individualized care provided to meet the needs of a mother and baby following childbirth. Aim To evaluate effectiveness of a designed training program on improving the midwives’ practice of postnatal care. Methods: A qauzi experimental design. The study used two samples: First sample (convenience) used to assess knowledge by questionnaire included 181 midwives from all the maternity hospitals in GS, and the second sample (census) included all the midwives who are working in Al Emaraty Maternity Hospital. 76 midwives who attended the training program for one month. The researcher used a questionnaire and collected data in two stages: before and after the training program. The researcher conducted a pilot study on 30 midwives to check validity and reliability of the questionnaire and alpha coefficient was 0.970. Results: 28.9% of study participants aged 30 - 35 years, 76.3% have bachelor degree, 78.9% of study participants are married and mean years of experience was 10.22 years. There was statistically significant improvement in midwives’ practice about immediate postnatal care, after one hour postnatal care, and health education and discharge plan after the training program (M= 1.95, 1.97, 1.96 prospectively) compared to practice before the training program (M= 1.74, 1.68,1.69 prospectively). Conclusion: The training program successfully improved midwives' practice of postnatal care, which will lead to improving mothers and newborn health.