The National Maternity Experience Survey will commence in February 2025. Women aged 16 and over who give birth in February or March 2025 will be eligible to take part in the survey. They will receive an invitation to take the survey approximately three months after they give birth.
The survey questionnaire will ask women about their experience of the full pathway of maternity care, from antenatal care in primary and hospital settings, through labour and birth in hospital, to postnatal care in the community. Women who give birth at home, through the HSE’s National Home Births Service, will also be eligible to participate.
This will be the second National Maternity Experience Survey. The first survey was carried out in early 2020, when over 6,500 women who gave birth in October or November 2019 were invited to participate. 50% of those invited took part. The findings of the survey and a response from the HSE, outlining plans to improve care
The survey is part of the National Care Experience Programme, a joint initiative by HIQA, the HSE and the Department of Health.
To find out more about the survey, please visit www.yourexperience.ie.