Latar Belakang. Pelayanan bidan di desa sangat esensial dalam mengatasi berbagai masalah kesehatan di desa. Meskipun demikian, tidak semua bidan bersedia tinggal di tempat tugasnya. Hal ini berimplikasi pada sulitnya akses pemanfaatan pelayanan bidan di desa bagi masyarakat. Dari observasi pendahuluan, ditemukan adanya ketidakpercayaan sebagian masyarakat terhadap pelayanan kesehatan yang diberikan oleh bidan di desa. Usia muda dan status belum menikah dari bidan di desa menjadi alasan lain dari ketidakpercayaan tersebut. Kurangnya dukungan dari masyarakat juga dapat dilihat dari data cakupan yang masih rendah pada K1 dan K4 serta persalinan ibu hamil di Kabupaten Muaro Jambi tahun 2005. Tujuan Penelitian. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui persepsi masyarakat terhadap pemanfaatan pelayanan bidan di desa di Kabupaten Muaro Jambi. Metode Penelitian. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif, dengan rancangan studi kasus, menggunakan metode kualitatif. Informasi dikumpulkan melalui diskusi kelompok terarah (DKT) terhadap 48 (empat puluh delapan) ibu hamil dan menyusui dari 4 (empat) desa yang menjadi lokasi penelitian dengan cakupan rendah dan tinggi. Di samping itu, dilakukan pula wawancara mendalam terhadap 4 (empat) kepala desa, tokoh masyarakat/kader PKK, dan 4 (empat) bidan koordinator Puskesmas di wilayah desa masing-masing. Adapun informasi yang diperoleh dianalisis dengan menggunakan analisis tema. Hasil Penelitian. Pemanfaatan pelayanan bidan di desa dipengaruhi oleh persepsi masyarakat, khususnya ibu hamil dan menyusui, terhadap pelayanan bidan. Persepsi tersebut dipengaruhi beberapa hal seperti kemampuan dan ketrampilan bidan di desa, pengalaman masyarakat ketika menerima pelayanan dari bidan, lingkungan bidan bertugas, serta motivasi dan kesadaran masyarakat akan kebutuhan pelayanan bidan di desa. Kemampuan finansial masyarakat, serta keberadaan bidan juga turut berpengaruh terhadap persepsi masyarakat terhadap pelayanan bidan di desa. Keberadaan bidan di tempat tugas menjadi vital mengingat adanya pengalaman sebagian masyarakat yang dikecewakan karena bidan tidak di tempat saat dibutuhkan. Pada dasarnya masyarakat menginginkan bidan untuk tinggal di tempat tugasnya. Adapun kendala berkait dengan pelayanan bidan di desa umumnya berupa keterbatasan peralatan medis, keterbatasan stok obat, kurang lengkapnya sarana/prasarana, dan kepercayaan sebagian masyarakat terhadap dukun. Meskipun demikian, para tokoh masyarakat/kader PKK serta kepala desa tetap berupaya meningkatkan pemanfaatan pelayanan bidan di desa dengan jalan mendorong kelompok ibuibu untuk memanfaatkan pelayanan bidan di desa mereka. Kesimpulan. Persepsi masyarakat terhadap pelayanan bidan di desa dipengaruhi oleh kemampuan dan ketrampilan bidan di desa, lingkungan tugas bidan di desa, kesadaran masyarakat akan kebutuhan pelayanan bidan di desa, dan keberaadan bidan di tempat tugas.

Background. The services of village midwives has become essential in overcoming health problems in villages. Yet, not every village midwives is willing to live at the village where they work which causes hard access for the community to get health services. From pre-observation, it was found that a part of the community distrusted the services of village midwives. The young age and unmarried status of the village midwives became some reasons of the distrust. The low support of community towards village midwives can be seen from the low coverage of first visit (K1) and fourth visit (K4) of ante natal care, and delivery in the District of Muaro Jambi in the year of 2005. Objective. The objective of this research was to know the perception of community towards the utilization of village midwives in Muaro Jambi. Methods. This research was a descriptive research, using case study design, with qualitative method. The information were collected through focus group discussion towards 48 pregnant and breast-feeding women at 4 observed villages with high and low coverage. In-depth interviews were also done towards 4 heads of village, key persons/PKK cadres, and 4 Health Center Coordinator Midwives of each observed village. The information were analyzed using thematic analysis. Result. The utilization of village midwives services was influenced by the perception of community, especially pregnant and breast-feeding women, towards the midwives services. There were several things that influenced the perception such as the ability and skill of midwives, experiences towards midwives services, midwives’ working environment, and community motivation and awareness on the needs of midwives services. Community’s financial capability, and availability of midwives also influenced the perception. Availability of midwives on-site was vital knowing that a part of the community experienced disappointment towards midwives due to their unavailability in time of needs. Principally, the community wanted their village midwives to live at their work place. There were also obstacles regarding village midwives services, such as limited medical equipments, limited stocks of medicines, inadequate infrastructures, and community’s believe on traditional birth attendance. In addition, there were also efforts from heads of village and key persons to encourage women to utilize the village midwives services. Conclusion. The perception of community towards the village midwives services was influenced by ability and skill of village midwives, working environment of the midwives, community motivation and awareness on the needs of midwives services, and the availability of village midwives at their working place.

Kata Kunci : Layanan Kesehatan,Bidan