Postpartum follow-up care in a hospital-based clinic: an update on an expanded program.

The Postpartum Care Center, an outpatient, in-hospital follow-up clinic began in 1991 in response to shortening maternity stays and the resulting need to provide follow-up care to mothers, infants, and families. This innovative model of postpartum follow-up care is cost effective and allows one nurse to see two to three times as many families in a clinic day as could be seen at home. Support services including the laboratory, pharmacy, social service, and anesthesia service are in close proximity to the clinic.