Perceived Barriers and Strategies for Enhancing Village Midwives’ Antenatal Care Delivery: A Qualitative Study from Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Authors

  • Tilaili Ibrahim Graduate School of Mathematics and Applied Sciences, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia
  • Maimun Syukri Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia
  • Hizir Sofyan Department of Statistics, Faculty of Math and Science, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia
  • Nurjannah Nurjannah Department of Public Health, Medical School, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60084/hjas.v4i2.453

Keywords:

Prenatal care, Midwifery, Professional competence, Indonesia, Qualitative research

Abstract

Antenatal care (ANC), a vital part of maternal health services, directly affects the health of both the mother and the newborn. Village midwives are at the forefront of providing ANC to communities in Indonesia. Understanding the strategy to improve village midwives' performance is essential for developing targeted interventions to improve ANC quality and maternal health outcomes. This study aimed to explore midwives’ perceptions of the factors influencing village midwives' ANC service delivery and to identify strategies perceived to improve antenatal care quality in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The study used a qualitative approach with a maximum variation sampling strategy. Data were collected from October to November 2018 through in-depth interviews with seven informants, including village midwives, midwife coordinators, heads of health centers (Pusat Kesehatan Masyarakat = Puskesmas), and a representative from the Municipality Health Office. The results identified five main themes: some midwives were not domiciled in their assigned villages; midwife coordinators conducted routine evaluations, but feedback was inconsistent; midwives valued continuous learning; maternal and child health records were sometimes incomplete due to limited facilities and irregular visits; and health centers conducted non-random periodic facilitative assessments. Participants proposed several strategies to address these challenges, including internal reviews of the maternal and child health book records, educating pregnant women on the use and importance of the book, standardization of maternal cohort registers, patient satisfaction assessment, and realignment of village midwives’ placement with their official job descriptions, which represent recommendations generated from participants' perceptions rather than interventions tested within this study. These findings offer contextual insight into perceived barriers and improvement strategies for village midwives in delivering ANC, providing a foundation for designing targeted interventions.

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Published

2026-09-17

How to Cite

Ibrahim , T., Syukri, M., Sofyan, H. and Nurjannah, N. (2026) “Perceived Barriers and Strategies for Enhancing Village Midwives’ Antenatal Care Delivery: A Qualitative Study from Banda Aceh, Indonesia”, Heca Journal of Applied Sciences, 4(2), pp. 121–132. doi: 10.60084/hjas.v4i2.453.

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2026): September 2026 (In Press)

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Copyright (c) 2026 Tilaili Ibrahim , Maimun Syukri, Hizir Sofyan, Nurjannah Nurjannah

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