ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: postnatal care has gone through remarkable changes, such as reducing the length of hospital stay and increasing the parents' responsibility. Focusing on dissatisfaction, this study describes how new parents experience postpartum care. DESIGN: cross-sectional, population-based study, based on questionnaires. PARTICIPANTS: 1474 parents. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: the questionnaires, posted six months after childbirth, addressed how parents experienced postnatal care. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics and content analysis. KEY CONCLUSIONS: a main finding was that the close emotional attachment between the parents was not always supported by staff. The father was treated as an outsider and the care was described as 'a woman's world'. The asymmetric encounter between parents and staff was pronounced with respect to decision-making, and some designated this as 'paternalism'. A great deal of the discontent with health care may be due to organisational failure, and the postnatal care should be more prioritised in the health-care organisation. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: midwives should acknowledge that parents, irrespective of gender, should have equal opportunities as parents during postpartum care as parenting is a joint project.
Subject(s)
Parents/psychology , Patient Satisfaction/statistics & numerical data , Postnatal Care/statistics & numerical data , Postpartum Period/psychology , Professional-Patient Relations , Adult , Anecdotes as Topic , Attitude of Health Personnel , Communication , Cross-Sectional Studies , Delivery Rooms , Female , Humans , Male , Nursing Methodology Research , Postnatal Care/psychology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Sweden/epidemiology , Young AdultABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To describe the utilization of health care services, based on number of outpatient visits and readmissions, by mothers and newborns following discharge postnatally after having received various types of maternity care. DESIGN: The design was a cohort of Swedish women giving birth at full term. All together, 773 women and 782 newborns were followed using questionnaires, registry data, and medical chart notes. The information served as a basis for analyzing utilization of health care services during the first 28 days post-delivery. RESULTS: Of the women, 15% sought medical care and 1.7% were readmitted, whereas 17% of the newborns received medical care and 2.9% were readmitted. At 6 months, about half were exclusively being breastfed. There was no difference in need to seek health care or breastfeeding outcome owing to type of maternity care. CONCLUSION: Mothers with newborns sought care relatively frequently but rarely needed to be readmitted after discharge from the maternity care. The risk of readmission during the first month after childbirth was not greater for mothers and children who received care through the family suite or early discharge programs.
