Main findings
The indicator values are generally in the upper, positive part of the response scale, which ranges from 0–100, where 100 is best. Although many women have positive experiences in their encounters with the health services, there is also room for improvement in some areas.
When we compare the summer months in 2025 with the main survey (August 2024 – February 2025), there are significant differences in the indicator score on 9 out of 17 indicators:
- 1 point higher score: Antenatal check-up with GP/midwife and Relationship with the staff at the health clinic
- 2 points higher score: Frameworks and organisation at the maternity ward and Looking after a partner at the maternity ward both during and after childbirth
- 2 points lower score: Information about the child at the health clinic
- 3 points higher score: Relationship with the staff at the maternity ward both during and after childbirth
The same method was used to adjust the analyses of the summer survey as for the main survey. We created new response homogeneity groups for summer survey to make the results more representative within this survey. To compare the results between the two surveys, all data were pooled into one data file, and response homogeneity groups were recalculated for the total material. On this basis, the indicator scores were adjusted to take into account the different patient composition per unit and between the two surveys. This can however result in slightly different results depending on the type of analysis or adjustment that has been made, though these differences are small.
Information
Indicators that deal with information in the four phases of the pathway stand out with slightly lower indicator scores than for other indicators, even though the indicator scores are generally good. As in the main survey published in October 2025, it is the indicators representing women's experiences with their stay in the maternity wards that vary the most.
Information about the child
On two indicators, Information about the child at the maternity ward and Information about the child at the child health clinic, the indicator score is lower for the summer months than for the main survey.
Antenatal check-ups with a midwife
Again, the antenatal check-up by a midwife received the highest scores overall in the summer survey, while information about the woman's health in the maternity ward received the lowest scores for summer births. Generally, indicator scores for antenatal care, maternity wards and child health clinic are high, with the exception of information about the woman's health at the health clinic, which received the second lowest score of all indicators.
Length of stay in hospital
When it comes to the length of hospital stays, the proportion of women who have a shorter length of stay (0-1 day) is higher among the summer survey (16 %) than for the main survey (12 %). There is however no difference in the women's satisfaction with the length of stay between the two surveys.
Home visits after childbirth
Among the women who gave birth in the summer of 2025, a higher proportion did not receive a home visit after childbirth compared to the women who responded to the main survey. In the main survey, a third had not had a home visit from a midwife and 10 percent had not had a visit from a public health nurse. In the summer survey, the corresponding figures are 46 and 14 percent. 10 percent did not have a visit from either a midwife or a public health nurse.