The midwives have a wealth of experience in breastfeeding and are the ones who are principally involved in helping mothers who are first-time breastfeeders. For mothers who elect not to breast-feed, they can be given a medicine to suppress Prolactin production Dostinex to prevent the natural engorgement of breasts which happens in the first few days after birth.
For breastfeeding mothers, we would recommend giving the baby vitamin D for 6 months after birth. Tiredness is a common problem antenatally but it can be made worse after birth with unsettled nights and demanding babies. Common problems of caring for a newborn baby can also make these mood changes worse and the happiness felt immediately after birth can sometimes be replaced by feelings of insecurity and concern about her ability to care for her baby after she leaves the hospital.
These mood problems are a very common problem and they usually settle over a number of days. They are important and they should be drawn to the attention of the midwives and obstetrician.
A questionnaire can be completed to gauge the level of mood and when appropriate an opinion can be sought from a Psychologist, or a Psychiatrist and more time in Northpark Private hospital can be allocated to the mother in the mother-baby unit for the care of either the mother or an unsettled baby. The good news is that the majority of mothers feel well and are happy to go home after a routine time in hospital. The first six weeks after the birth of her baby is called the puerperium.
During this time the uterus involutes to its normal size, vaginal bleeding settles, metabolism and blood pressure normalize and hormonal effects of pregnancy resolve. If any problems arise during this time your obstetrician needs to be notified and appropriate treatment offered. Mastitis, persistent bleeding, urinary infections are common and easily fixed. Most importantly persistent depressed mood can develop into postnatal depression and will need special attention.
All mothers and fathers should feel free to notify the obstetrician if any of these problems occur postnatally. A special postnatal visit occurs when the baby is six weeks old. 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. Midwifery September Reproductive Health September A study conducted in Malawi on assessment of the knowledge and practice of postpartum mothers regarding postnatal care showed that almost all the participants were knowledgeable about some aspect of postnatal care [ 12 ].
Therefore, this study is designed to determine maternal knowledge regarding PNC and to find out the socio-demographic determinants of knowledge scores on postnatal care among postpartum mothers. Cross-sectional study design with quantitative approach was used to determine the knowledge of postnatal care among postpartum mothers during discharge in maternity hospitals in Asmara.
The study was conducted in December, The study was conducted in the health facilities which provide delivery service in Asmara. Asmara is the capital city of Eritrea, a country in the horn of Africa.
According to Asmara municipality report, it has a population size of , Postpartum mothers who delivered in these four hospitals during the study period constituted the study population. Complete enumeration of the postpartum mothers was undertaken to determine the knowledge of postpartum mothers on postnatal care.
This is because all subjects during the specified period of time can be recruited resulting to more accuracy, than that of samples. The dependent variable in the study was the knowledge of postnatal care among mothers who had given birth.
The selected determinants were age, marital status, religion, educational level, and occupation. A questionnaire was developed with reference to a guideline prepared by WHO on post-natal care of the mother and new born [ 1 ] and previous similar studies conducted in Kenya [ 15 ] and Tanzania [ 16 ]. After compiling the questionnaire, content validity was assessed using panel of experts from Ministry of Health and Asmara College of Health Sciences.
Then, the questionnaire was translated from English to Tigrigna, a language most familiar to Eritreans, by experienced researchers, linguists, and midwife experts.
The questionnaire was pre-tested among 30 postpartum mothers in Orotta National Referral Maternity Hospital 1 month before the study period. The interview was done face- to- face by five degree midwife nurses who can speak and understand the language. Pre-designed questions that were not easily understood by the interviewee were simplified after pre-testing the questionnaire. Furthermore, re-arrangement of the questions were made.
The modified questionnaire had two main parts, namely, socio-demographic characteristics and questions that assess knowledge on postnatal care. There were in total 17 questions with 60 items each having one score that were used to determine the knowledge on postnatal care encompassing two main components: maternal care, and baby care.
Maternal care component consisted of concerns on maternal danger signs 15 items , infection prevention 9 items , bladder care 1 item , sexual activity starting time 1 item , proper nutrition 6 items , delay of menstruation by exclusive breast feeding 1 item , and contraceptive methods 4 items. On the other hand, the baby care component consisted of mechanism of keeping the baby warm 2 items , time of first new born baby bath 1 item , umbilical care 1 item , initiation of breast feeding 1 item , frequency of breast feeding per day 1 item , exclusive breast feeding 1 item , needs and purposes of vaccination 2 items , and baby danger signs 14 items.
An overall score was obtained by adding the correct responses totaling to The scores indicate that with an increase in score, there is an increase of knowledge regarding postnatal care. After verification of the collected questionnaires by the researchers, the data was entered into CSPro Census and Survey processing system version 7.
Normality of the knowledge score was assessed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Independent samples t-test variables with two categories and one way ANOVA variables with more than 2 categories were used to find out the difference in the level of knowledge of post-natal across demographic variables.
Data collectors were able to approach postpartum mothers in the four hospitals during the study period. However, 27 delivered by caesarean section and by spontaneous vaginal delivery SVD. In addition, 30 subjects were excluded because they cannot speak Tigrigna native language , 13 had still birth, and 14 withdrew from the study to arrive at subjects included in the analysis Fig. An overview of the socio- demographic characteristics of postpartum mothers during the study period on postnatal care is shown in Table 1.
Obstetrical and gynecological history of the mothers revealed that, On the other hand, Only 37 The percentage distribution of postpartum mothers on maternal danger signs are shown in Fig. The three most recognized maternal danger signs were heavy vaginal bleeding Knowledge of postnatal mothers on maternal danger signs. Almost all Emptying the bladder every 2 hours, which is the correct response for frequency of urination, was mentioned only by 35 The majority The minimum time for starting sexual intercourse was correctly responded by Six different nutrients which are needed to be taken during postpartum were presented to the postpartum mothers for identification.
Moreover, Food rich in proteins The percentages of women who responded delay in menstrual period as a result of giving exclusive breast feeding for 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and more than 2 years were More than nine tenth of postpartum mothers correctly identified injectable contraceptives The remaining had mentioned IUD Nine different infection prevention methods were presented to the postnatal mothers for identification Table 4.
Wash perineum with warm water and some salt The remaining seven infection prevention methods were known by less than half of the postpartum mothers. Among the least known infection prevention methods were hand washing after changing pads Table 5 shows the percentage distribution of mothers by their knowledge on baby care.
Knowledge on keeping the baby warm by wrapping the baby with cloth was almost universal Few 6. Correct response on the time at which first bath can be given for a new born baby was obtained from 67 More than three fourths Most of the respondents Almost three fourths Almost all respondents With regards to the purpose of vaccine, most of the respondents More than half of the respondents mentioned fever Almost one third of the women were able to identify the inability to breast feed Less than one fourth of the respondents cited umbilical problems For example, contacts during pregnancy can be used for counseling and health education on newborn care and care-seeking for danger signs in the postnatal period.
This support may be especially important in settings where births still take place at home. Postnatal care can also include assessment and counseling provided to the mother before discharge after giving birth in a health facility, as well as later contacts during home visits by community health workers or postnatal visits to a health facility. Broadly, the major elements of postnatal care include:.
It is through the same contacts that we have opportunities to improve outcomes for both mother and newborn, so programs and services should focus on needed care for both.
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