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Women need to receive accurate information on the proper use of contraceptive methods (CM). The objective of our analysis was to evaluate the quality of CM counseling in health institutions of the public sector using the Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) technique. We specifically analyzed whether health-service providers informed CM users of all the side effects they might experience, as specified under the Mexican health-care regulations. Our results demonstrated that, among the four CM analyzed -the intrauterine device, hormonal injection, condom and subdermal implant- only the users of the subdermal implant received complete information on side effects. Our findings thus indicate that the quality of family planning services in the institutions analyzed is deficient. We recommend that service providers be regularly trained in order to improve their performance and that LQAS methodology be adopted as an effective means of regularly monitoring the quality of health services in Mexico.

Objective: to assess the association between non-clinical factors and the incidence of caesarean section (CS); to estimate the effect of a prenatal instructor's presence during childbirth on birth outcome (vaginal or CS). Design: cross-sectional study from a register of women who attended prenatal classes. Multivariate logistic regression was used to measure the effects of each variable on whether the birth was vaginal or CS. Setting: Mexico City, Mexico. Participants: 992 births to 847 women from the register of the Birth Education Centre (CEPAPAR) between 1987 and 2000. Findings: the incidence of CS was 33%. The most commonly reported (by the women) reason for performing a CS was dystocia (53%). Most women were middle or upper-middle class professionals, and 85% of the women gave birth in private institutions. Odds of having a CS were higher among women who gave birth in a large hospital, women who were over 25 years of age, primigravidae, and women who were not supported by a prenatal instructor during childbirth. Conclusions: non-clinical factors considerably affect the type of birth outcome (vaginal vs. CS). A system in which a prenatal instructor provided support to the woman during childbirth could contribute significantly to reducing initial and repeat CS.

This article presents some of the most relevant qualitative results of a trial to evaluate the effects of the provision of psychosocial support to first-time mothers during labor, childbirth and in the immediate postpartum period in a social security hospital in Mexico City. The article focuses on the experiences of mothers who have received psychosocial support from a doula (the term doula is used to identify a woman who provides continuous support to a woman during labor. delivery and the immediate postpartum period) and compares them with the experiences of those women who gave birth following normal hospital routine. Sixteen in-depth interviews were held with women in the immediate post partum period (eight of whom had been accompanied by a doula and eight who had not) before they were discharged from hospital, and the results were analyzed using qualitative techniques. The interviews showed that the women accompanied by a doula had a more positive childbirth experience. The differences between both groups related to their perceptions of the childbirth experience; the treatment they received from hospital staff; the information they were given and how well they understood it; their perception of hospital routines; their feelings about cesarean sections and, spatial and temporal perceptions. The most important difference between the two groups was the way they expressed their feelings about their own labor, their sense of control and their self-perception.