Decision-making for postpartum discharge of 4300 mothers and their healthy infants: the Life Around Newborn Discharge study.

OBJECTIVES: Postpartum discharge of mothers and infants who are not medically or psychosocially ready may place the family at risk. Most studies of postpartum length of stay, however, do not reflect the necessary complexity of decision-making. With this study we aimed to characterize decision-making on the day of postpartum discharge from the perspective of multiple key informants and identify correlates of maternal and newborn unreadiness for discharge. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective observational cohort study of healthy term infants with mothers, pediatric providers, and obstetricians as key informants to assess the decision-making process regarding mother-infant dyad unreadiness for discharge. A mother-infant dyad was defined as unready for postpartum hospital discharge if > or = 1 of 3 informants perceived that either the mother or infant should stay longer at time of nursery discharge. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires on the day of discharge. RESULTS: Of 4300 mother-infant dyads, unreadiness was identified in 17% as determined by the mother (11%), pediatrician (5%), obstetrician (1%), and > or = 2 informants (< 1%). Significant correlates of unreadiness were as follows: black non-Hispanic maternal race/ethnicity, maternal history of chronic disease, primigravid status, inadequate prenatal care as determined by the Kotelchuck Adequacy of Prenatal Care Utilization Index, delivering during nonroutine hours, in-hospital neonatal problems, receiving a limited number of in-hospital classes, and intent to breastfeed. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers, pediatricians, and obstetricians must make decisions about postpartum discharge jointly, because perceptions of unreadiness often differ. Sensitivity toward specific maternal vulnerabilities and an emphasis on perinatal education to insure individualized discharge plans may increase readiness and determine optimal timing for discharge and follow-up care.

Postpartum discharge: do varying perceptions of readiness impact health outcomes?

OBJECTIVE: To assess maternal and pediatrician perceptions of mother-infant readiness for postpartum discharge and the impact of this decision making during the neonatal period. METHODOLOGY: We performed a prospective cohort study of mothers and healthy term infants during the first month of life. On nursery discharge and 1 month later, mothers and practitioners completed self-administered questionnaires assessing the discharge decision, maternal confidence in newborn care, and the adequacy of the length of obstetric care. We used Fisher exact tests, Wilcoxon tests, and exact logistic regression for analysis. RESULTS: Twenty percent of 55 mother-infant pairs were classified as unready at postpartum discharge. Maternal education less than high school was a significant predictor for lack of readiness (P =.01). During the month after discharge, unready mothers identified themselves as being less happy, made twice as many phone calls on behalf of their infants, and more often placed their infants in the prone sleeping position (P <.01 for each) when compared with ready mothers. The latter 2 variables remained significant in multivariate analyses. The percent agreement between mothers and practitioners about readiness was 92% on discharge but 59% (kappa = 0.09; P =.34) 1 month later. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal and pediatric perceptions of readiness for postpartum discharge of mothers and infants show substantial variation on the day of discharge and over time.