Table 1.
Percentage of prenatal care providers who fulfilled each skill item, and average scores
| # | ITEM | Nurses / midwives (285) |
| 1. | Washes hands with soap & water and dries them | 13.0 (284) |
| 2. | Greets and calls woman by her first name and introduces him/herself if first visit | 91.6 |
| 3. | Ensures woman is in a comfortable environment | 51.2 |
| 4. | Explains purpose of the session and nature of the procedures | 53.5 (284) |
| 5. | Asks questions and allows client to express herself | 88.4 (284) |
| 6. | Pays attention and is interested in personal problems of the woman | 68.1 |
| 7. | Reviews clinic record before start of sesson/does new record for new client | 63.9 |
| 8. | In case it's possible, performs medical tests (urine, blood) | 53.4 (279) |
| 9. | Explores pulse rate | 20.8 (283) |
| 10. | Explores blood pressure | 91.9 |
| 11. | Takes temperature | 13.0 (284) |
| 12. | Gets anthropometric measurements: weight, height | 48.2 (284) |
| 13. | Examines skin and conjunctivae | 16.1 |
| 14. | Checks for oedema, redness and varicose veins – legs | 44.9 |
| 15. | Examines thyroid, mouth | 4.2 |
| 16. | Examines breasts | 31.0 (284) |
| 17. | Examines the heart and lungs, if necessary send her to the relevant specialist | 13.7 |
| 18. | Inspects and palpates abdomen for scars, pigmentation... | 11.6 |
| 19. | Palpates uterus and performs maneuvers to detect fetal position and situation | 29.5 (281) |
| 20. | Measures uterine height, abdomen circumference and listens to the fetal heart rate (in case of pregnancy ≥ 18 weeks) | 37.7 (281) |
| 21. | Determines weeks of pregnancy and probable delivery date | 38.9 |
| 22. | Informs woman about the progress of pregnancy | 29.8 |
| 23. | Informs woman about her health condition | 30.5 |
| 24. | Informs woman about the fetus' health condition | 16.5 |
| 25. | Informs woman about any complications | 29.8 |
| 26. | Orients woman on the place of delivery (hospital contacts, transportation, etc.) | 46.3 |
| 27. | Orients woman about management of common pregnancy-related afflictions | 33.7 |
| 28. | Orients woman about personal hygiene, rest and general care | 69.1 |
| 29. | Orients woman about gender, sexuality and STI prevention | 15.1 |
| 30. | Orients woman about alarm signs: pain, fever, bleeding and loss of vaginal fluid | 34.4 |
| 31. | Counsels woman about her nutritional needs and prescribes iron and folates | 16.8 |
| 32. | Informs woman of positive and side effects of medicines during pregnancy | 6.3 |
| 33. | Orients woman about breast feeding, baby vaccination and use of contraception | 37.3 (284) |
| 34. | Solicits questions to ensure client has understood | 26.3 |
| 35. | Schedules appointment according to clinic needs and woman's convenience | 54.4 |
| 36. | Records all findings, assessments, diagnosis and care with client | 38.9 |
| 37. | Thanks client for her time | 50.5 |
| AVERAGE PERCENTAGE SCORE | 38.4% | |
| TOTAL SKILLS SCORE (Items 0 – 37)2 | 14.2 | |
1 Percentages of total valid observations 2 Obtained by adding up all the positive answers to each item: range 0 – 37 (0 = Nil; 37 = All) * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; NS: not significant