What is it about?
This study adapted a global tool for measuring maternal and newborn care experiences for use in Arabic-speaking settings. The original instrument was developed in English to capture women’s experiences during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. The research team translated and culturally adapted the tool through collaboration between researchers in Palestine, Norway, Scotland, Saudi Arabia, and Northern Ireland. The Arabic version was tested with 48 postpartum women in Palestine and Saudi Arabia using cognitive interviews to assess understanding and relevance. Findings showed that shared language does not guarantee shared meaning, as differences in healthcare systems, culture, and clinical language shaped interpretation. Several items were refined by improving wording, adding examples, and introducing a “not applicable” option. The final Arabic version is now ready for further psychometric testing and use in research and evaluation of maternal and newborn care.
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Why is it important?
Quality of care goes beyond medical outcomes. It includes respect, communication, and women’s involvement in decisions. Many Arabic-speaking settings lack validated tools to measure women’s experiences of care. This study provides a structured method for adapting measurement tool across countries with shared language but different health systems. It supports comparable measurement of maternity care quality across settings. It improves data quality for research and health system decisions. It supports policy and practice improvements in maternity care. It is especially relevant in settings with limited resources and complex conditions, where gaps in care are often hardest to identify and address.
Perspectives
This work went beyond translation. It focused on how women experience and interpret maternity care in real settings. Working across countries required constant coordination, trust, and clear communication, with each decision balancing methodological accuracy and real-world meaning. The process showed how language, health system differences, and lived experiences shape how women respond to the same questions. It reinforced a commitment to developing tools that reflect women’s voices in a meaningful way and showed that international collaboration can produce research that is both methodologically strong and relevant to real-world care.
khadeja Zaza
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Navigating international academic collaboration: The Arabic translation and cultural adaptation of the Quality Maternal and Newborn Care Framework index, PLOS One, April 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0347114.
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