Table 1 Case scenarios to evaluate the actual practice of community pharmacy professionals' in providing health services for pregnant women focusing on responding to minor symptoms

Scenario 1: back pain

A male Simulated Client (SC) asked the pharmacy staff to give him a medication for his wife with 8th month of pregnancy complaining of back pain. The community pharmacy professional was expected to ask information about the symptoms and rule out other medical conditions and advise the SC to take safe anti-pain, such as paracetamol, if insufficient advice to visit the nearby hospital if the symptoms persist. The community pharmacy professional was also expected to give adequate medication-related information as per to the standard dispensing practice

The community pharmacy professional was given the following information when asked

✓ No previous or current medical conditions other than the complaint of back pain

✓ She was at 8th month of pregnancy

✓ The pain started 1 week ago

✓ The pain was happening every day and gets worse at night

✓ She has not taken any medications before

✓ She was 27 years old and weighed 56 kg

✓ She did not visit any health facility for the case

Scenario 2: moderate nausea and vomiting

The SC was pregnant woman in the 9th weeks of pregnancy complains of moderate nausea and vomiting. The community pharmacy professional was expected to ask detailed symptom-related information and rule out other medical conditions and advise the SC to take safe antihistamines and or non-pharmacological interventions, such as herbal remedies (example ginger), if the symptom persists advise to visit the nearby hospital. The community pharmacy professional was also expected to deliver adequate medication-related information

The community pharmacy professional was given the following information when asked

– No previous or current medical conditions other than the complaint of nausea and vomiting

– She was in first trimester of pregnancy

– The pain started 1 week ago and was happening every day

– She has not taken any medications before

– She was 27 years old and weighed 56 kg

– She did not visit any health facility for the case

All information given by the community pharmacy professional was recorded using structured data recording format as soon as the SC left the pharmacy (Additional files 1, 2)