SUMMARY Aim of the study – to assess the attitudes of patients and their partners to the quality of service in the secondary and tertiary obstetrical in-patient clinics. Objectives: 1) to evaluate the attitudes of patients to the quality of obstetrical care services; 2) to compare the quality of services among secondary and tertiary obstetrical clinics; 3) to determine the factors influencing the satisfaction with obstetrical care services; 4) to evaluate the attitudes of patients’ partners to the quality of obstetrical care services. Methods: The anonymous survey of parturient women (patients) and their partners (participants in childbirth) was performed in different obstetrical clinics since 1st January to 30th December 2004. The survey was conducted in the secondary care obstetrical in-patient Silutė (level A) and Panevezys (level B) clinics and also in the tertiary care Kaunas obstetrical in-patient clinic (Hospital of Kaunas University of Medicine). The number of participants was following: in Silute; 304 parturient women and 145 their partners, in Panevezys 416 and 253 and in Kaunas 256 and 111 respectively. Response rate varied between 73% and 96%. The difference between categorical variable was assessed using chi-square (χ²) test. Correlation analysis was performed using Spearman coefficient of rank correlation. Results: Majority of respondents were satisfied with childbirth (91% ) and postnatal care (95%). The satisfaction with quality of services was not related... [to full text]