Compliance with the Right to Safe Motherhood and Its Predisposing, Reinforcing, and Enabling Factors Based on the Precede-Proceed Model from the Perspective of Midwifery Students

The right to safe motherhood encompasses several goals, including reducing maternal mortality, ensuring safe pregnancy and childbirth, and giving birth to healthy children. This study aimed to determine the degree of compliance with the right to safe motherhood and to identify its predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors based on the precede-proceed model from the viewpoint of midwifery students. This cross sectional study was conducted using the census method on 151 midwifery students at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran in 2021 and 2022. Data were collected through a demographic questionnaire, a researcher-made questionnaire to assess compliance with the right to safe motherhood, and a questionnaire to measure its predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors on a self-report basis. Statistical methods including Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation coefficients were utilized to analyze data. The overall mean score of compliance with the right to safe motherhood was 116.6±38.8 with a range of 13-187. Regarding predisposing factors, 58.6% of students had an average to high level of awareness, 80.15% had a positive attitude, and 56.7% highly valued compliance with the right to safe motherhood. Concerning reinforcing factors, the encouragement by clinical mentors (94.8%) as well as legal support (94.6%), and in terms of enabling factors, proficiency and expertise in human resources (71.9%) were recognized as the most influencing factors in promoting compliance with the right to safe motherhood. Moreover, there was a strong positive correlation between enabling factors and compliance with the right to safe motherhood (r=0.950, p=0.488). The results suggest that from the perspective of midwifery students, the level of compliance with the right to safe motherhood is moderate. Given the relationship between enabling factors and compliance with the right to safe motherhood, educational and executive officials in midwifery are recommended to consider the role of these factors to improve the level of compliance with the right to safe motherhood to enhance the quality of midwifery services