Exploring Postpartum Patient Satisfaction Among Spanish-Speaking Mothers: An Audio Documentary from Liisa Ogburn on Vimeo.

Postpartum satisfaction surveys are an important patient-reported indicator of healthcare quality and patient response to such surveys may impact hospital reimbursement in the near future. Identifying barriers to participation is a key element to improving healthcare quality assessment and serving the needs of a given population. At our institution, despite the availability of equivalent standardized English and Spanish-language versions of the surveys, the low response rate observed among Spanish-speaking mothers may indicate that our survey approach is less than ideal. This audio documentary sheds light on the circumstances of “undocumented” Spanish-speaking obstetrical patients. It explores whether non-participation in postpartum satisfaction surveys reflects low satisfaction or whether other socio-cultural factors may be at play. In the current context of healthcare reform, it aims to generate discussion and inform policy development aimed at bridging disparities inherent to the assessment of postpartum satisfaction among minority populations in America.