Student Eastern Virginia Medical School Norfolk, Virginia, United States
Background: Although the care a woman receives during the postpartum period is just as important as prenatal care, it is often overlooked. Untreated mental and physical health issues lead to increased maternal morbidity and mortality. Identification of barriers to postpartum care is vital for the health of the mother. Objective: To identify trends in postpartum appointment attendance based on maternal health demographics (physical conditions, mental health conditions and toxic habits) and identify self-reported reasons for lack of postpartum follow-up. Design/Methods: We surveyed mothers when their infant was seen for their well child check at 2-6 months of age at a single academic center. Mothers were asked standardized questions regarding pregnancy care and barriers to attendance of postpartum visits. Surveys were analyzed using logistic regression. Results: Of 100 mothers interviewed, 26 did not attend their postpartum visit. There were no significant differences in terms of diabetes (p=0.726), anemia (0.443), hypertension (0.637), infection (p=0.113) or obesity (p=0.305) between mothers who attended a postpartum visit versus those who did not. Also, there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of depression, anxiety, alcohol, marijuana, illicit drug use or smoking (p>0.05 for all). When grouped as any physical condition [OR: 0.83 (95% CI: 0.32-2.30, p=0.715)], any mental health condition [OR: 1.18 (95% CI: 0.48-2.90, p=0.722)], or toxic habits (alcohol/tobacco/drug use) [OR: 1.81 (95% CI: 0.74-4.52, p=0.197)] presence of any set of these conditions was not significantly associated with postpartum attendance (Figure 1). However, those patients who reported lack of adequate information about the postpartum visit showed significant differences with postpartum follow-up. Compared to those who did not attend a postpartum appointment versus those who did, subjects reported that they did not think it was important (34.6% vs 2.7%), they did not know where it was (8.0% vs 0.0%), or they were feeling well so they didn’t think they needed to be seen (30.8% vs. 4.1%) (Table 1, p< 0.05 for all three responses). These results showed a correlation in lack of education on why postpartum follow-up was needed after delivery.
Conclusion(s): The results show that there is a lack of understanding and education on the importance of attending the initial postpartum visit after delivery. Educating women during the prenatal period about the importance of postpartum follow-up is vital for mothers to receive essential and continued healthcare.
.png)
.png)