Telephone consultations - its quality in the opinion of pregnant and women in postpartum period and patients' sense of security.

Abstract

Objectives: to explore the opinions of pregnant and postpartum women on the services provided via remotely conducted consultation and to assess the sense of security of patients under the care conducted remotely my midwives and gynecologists.

Material and methods: An anonymous, self-administered survey questionnaire was completed by 86 women who had at least one telephone consultation with a gynecologist or midwife during pregnancy or after birth. The questionnaire was spread via social media between February 1 and August 1, 2022.

Results: More than half of the surveyed group (51.2%) had 1-3 consultations performed remotely during pregnancy and 53.5% after birth. Phone call only was the most popular form of remote consultations performed during pregnancy (69.8%) and after birth (43.0%). Simple app was used in 10.5% consultations during pregnancy and 4.7% after birth. The predominant reason of the remotely conducted consultation during pregnancy and after birth was the need of getting the prescription or consultation of blood/urine test results (61.6%). Although phone-made medical consultations were a convenience and time-saver for most women, the preferred form of visit is to meet the caregiver in person.

Conclusions: Special times, such pandemic was, requires a different, individual approach, and perhaps thanks to these experiences we will be able to behave wiser in future states of public health emergency. Teleconsultations were an acceptable form of medical consultation to discuss the results, effects of treatment or to write a referral or prescription.