Evaluation of the Mother and Child Health Care Program (Mütterberatung) offered by the Health Department (Gesundheitsamt) in Eimsbüttel, Hamburg

Abstract

Background: Having a child means that many things change in life. The joy of the child and life as a family is usually huge but sometimes it does not go as expected during pregnancy or after the birth of the child. The birth of a child is an overwhelming experience. It can be associated with much joy, but also many questions or fears. The parents need counseling to cope with everyday life with a newborn (BzgA, 2019b). The mother and child health care program offered by the Health Department Eimsbüttel Hamburg offer counseling to the mothers of infants who have questions about care, nutrition, breastfeeding, vaccinations, etc. (Bezirksamt Eimsbüttel, 2017). The aim of this Bachelor thesis is to evaluate the mother and child health care program offered by the Health Department in Eimsbüttel Hamburg. Method: As a method, two survey instruments were used: a standardized questionnaire and an individual expert interview. Thus, this work applies a “mix method approach”. In this mixed method research, a standardized Questionnaire was developed and used independently as a quantitative measuring instrument for data collection. Data were collected within a period of three months. The evaluation of the quantitative data was carried out with the Microsoft Excel program. The sample (n=21) was obtained from three participating mother and child health care centers in Eimsbüttel. An individual expert interview was also carried out with the pediatrician at the mother and child health care center in Eimsbüttel Kern. The purpose of the interview was to determine the goals, content, and services provided in the mother and child health care program and to find out the reason for the low response rate of questionnaire. Results: The evaluation results show that the Health Department Eimsbüttel has succeeded in successfully implementing the mother and child health care program. Likewise, the mother and child health care program at Eimsbüttel Kern achieved a high acceptance among the mothers. Welcome letter with a free baby’s sleeping bag voucher from the Health Department Eimsbüttel played an important role in acquiring more mothers in consultation (see Appendix E & F). Most of the mothers were motivated and accepted the parents’ letter offer mentioned in the welcome letter. However, many of the mothers did not know that they could get a home visit offered by Health Department Eimsbüttel. Furthermore, suggestions and recommendations for further improvement could also be derived.