Why is postpartum care important

The postnatal period is critical for newborns as well: More than a third of child deaths occur during the neonatal period , and approximately three quarters of neonatal deaths occur within the first week of life. Timely, high quality postnatal care is crucial for maximizing maternal and newborn health. The World Health Organization recommends that all women and newborns receive at least three postnatal contacts following delivery—the first between 48 and 72 hours, the second between days 7 and 14 and the third at six weeks postpartum.

In low- and middle-income countries, women who live in urban areas, are wealthier and have higher levels of education are significantly more likely to access postnatal care than their counterparts. While there have been innovative efforts to improve the availability and quality of postnatal care in low-resource settings, additional research to identify the most effective models is needed. Continuity of care from pregnancy through the postpartum period is essential for preventing maternal and newborn deaths.

Skip to content Resources The Role of the MHTF Historically, the global maternal health community has largely focused on access to high quality maternity care during pregnancy, labor and delivery. The total amount of blood in an average weight newborn is only ml; even 30 ml of blood loss is enough to cause shock. Community mobilis ation is defined as an action stimulated by a community, or by others, which are planned, carried out and evaluated by community members, organisations or groups, to solve community health problems.

In this study session, the focus is on health problems arising during the postnatal period. Community mobilisation is a continuous and cumulative process of communication, education and organisation to build leadership and implementation capacity. Box 1. Our coverage is brief here because you have already met all the methods in the Module on Health Education, Advocacy and Community Mobilisation.

Posters: Well-designed posters, placed and located in the right place can facilitate messages to keep reminding people about the issue of concern. Letter writing: This is one way of delivering health messages to literate members of the community. It gives the exact message and can be kept for future reference.

Illustrated leaflets: Pictures are a good way of getting the message to people whose level of literacy is insufficient to understand letters Figure 1. Home visiting: This is the best way of mobilising the community, because you can be sure that the message has been delivered.

Community mobilisation is based on a high level of c ommunity participation , which occurs when community members taking part in identification of problems and needs, and then plan, implement, monitor and evaluate community activities to solve the identified problem.

Your role is to explore, to learn from community wisdom, and to educate and persuade community members to bring about the necessary changes — in this case to improve postnatal outcomes. The final word and the final decision always belong to the community.

When people are involved and participate in an activity, they develop a sense of ownership and responsibility, which helps to sustain initiatives, activities and programmes. It also has the following benefits:. The primary targets of postnatal care are the mother, her newborn baby and the father.

You need to involve these people right from the outset when you introduce a postnatal care service in your community. Give particular attention to involving:.

Without the cooperation and collaboration of these individuals and groups it will be difficult to provide optimum postnatal care. In particular, it is essential to establish a good link and harmonise your efforts with the traditional birth attendants TBAs. The following activities will help you to do this Box 1. They are important partners, because they know the local culture, are respected by the community, and have a lot of experience in dealing with most of the social problems arising during the postnatal period.

Imagine you are a TBA with many years of experience. A Health Extension Practitioner begins to work in your village and asks for your help. What kinds of things would make you most likely to want to cooperate and support her practice? Of course there is no single right answer to this question, just as there is no single TBA to whom all answers will fit equally.

However, you probably included some of the following points:. Before you can provide an effective postnatal care service to your community, you should know the total population you are going to serve and how to collect vital statistics , such as births, deaths and information on migration of people into and out of the area. In addition you need to record all women in the reproductive age group approximately 15 to 45 years , who may become pregnant in the future, and the number of currently pregnant women with their expected date of delivery.

You should also record the names and addresses of all TBAs, local healers, village drug vendors and any other private practitioners. Register all community organisations that may support you in mobilising human, financial and transportation resources, in case emergency medical referrals are required for the mother and baby. You will learn about the referral link in the final study session of this Module.

All of the above information needs to be updated every four to six months. You may not need to conduct community mobilisation separately for PNC. It should be done in an integrated and harmonised way with all other community-based maternal, neonatal and child health services. Now that you have completed this study session, you can assess how well you have achieved its Learning Outcomes by answering the questions below.

You can check your answers with the Notes on the Self-Assessment Questions at the end of this Module. The following is a list of key terms used in this study session, each with a definition. Which of the definitions below are i fully correct, ii partially correct, and iii wrong. Write a short sentence for each of the partially correct or wrong definitions, using the term correctly. Imagine that you are trying to convince the Ethiopian Finance Minister to put more money into postnatal health care and he wants the evidence as to why.

Write a short letter outlining the key points that you would emphasise. You have done a good job persuading the Finance Minister, but he has asked the Health Minister to check that you really know what you are talking about. She asks you to list the key signs for potential complications that you should look out for in a postnatal mother and the main danger signs in the newborn baby.

What would you write in your list? Key signs to look for include dehydration, a poorly contracted uterus, fresh bleeding, a drop in blood pressure and a rising pulse. Longer term dangers to be aware of include blood clots and depression. Immediate things to check: is the baby breastfeeding properly, is the skin colour normal or yellowish, is there any fever, is the baby cold or too warm to the touch, is the breathing normal, is there any bleeding, has the baby got swollen or red eyelids?

You would also check if the baby is preterm so as to know if it is at increased risk for some complications. You probably got most of these. In short this allows you to use the content throughout the world without payment for non-commercial purposes in accordance with the Creative Commons non commercial sharealike licence.

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Printable page generated Thursday, 11 Nov , Use 'Print preview' to check the number of pages and printer settings. Print functionality varies between browsers. Printable page generated Thursday, 11 Nov , Postnatal Care at the Health Post and in the Community. Postnatal Care Module: 1. Learning Outcomes for Study Session 1 When you have studied this session, you should be able to: 1. Figure 1. Risk of asphyxia. Vital signs unstable or indicating shock: Blood pressure and pulse rate should be normal before you leave the mother.

If her blood pressure is dropping and her pulse rate is rising, the woman may be going into shock due to internal bleeding. Your prenatal care provider. This is the provider who takes care of you during pregnancy, labor and birth. Health care providers who treat women with pregnancy complications or chronic health conditions. Chronic health conditions include:. Breastfeeding help. You and your baby may need time and practice to get comfortable breastfeeding.

You can get breastfeeding help from:. Case manager or care coordinator. This is a nurse, social worker or other trained professional who works to make sure you and your baby get the care, resources and services you need.

Home visitor. Family and friends. Your family and friends can help you care for your baby or older children. Family and friends can also keep an eye out for warning signs of health problems including signs and symptoms of postpartum depression or other mental health conditions. Get our emails with pregnancy tips, ways to take action and stories that inspire. We're glad you're here! Together we can support moms and babies, especially those most in need.

We're glad you're here. March of Dimes leads the fight for the health of all moms and babies. We support research, lead programs and provide education and advocacy so that every family can have the best possible start. Building on a successful year legacy, we support every pregnant person and every family. March of Dimes, a not-for-profit, section c 3.

Privacy, Terms, and Notices , Cookie Settings. Register Sign In. Hi Your dashboard sign out. Managing changes after baby Now that your new baby has arrived, explore our education information and resources to give your family the best possible start.

Check out the articles to the left and stay up to date with the latest advice on how to care for yourself and your newborn. Managing changes after birth. The importance of the postpartum checkup Topics. In This Topic. Get a complete postpartum checkup no later than 12 weeks after giving birth.