Abstract
Shorter length of stay for postpartum mothers and their newborns necessitates careful community follow-up after hospital discharge. The vast amount of information given during the initial postpartum period can be overwhelming. New parents often need considerable support to understand the nuances of newborn care including newborn feeding. Primary health care and community services need to ensure there is a seamless continuum of care to support, empower, and educate new mothers and their families to prevent unnecessary hospital readmission and other negative health outcomes. The Healthy & Home postpartum community nursing program provides clinical communication and supports to bridge the gap between acute hospital and community follow-up care through home visits, a primary health care clinic, a breastfeeding center, a breastfeeding café, a postpartum anxiety and depression support group, bereavement support, and involvement in a Baby-Friendly Initiative™ coalition. Nurses working in the program have the acute care skills and resources to complete required health care assessments and screening tests. They are also international board-certified lactation consultants able to provide expert breastfeeding and lactation care. This paper describes how the Healthy & Home program has evolved over the past 25 years and offers suggestions to other organizations wanting to develop a postpartum program to meet the physical and mental health needs of postpartum families to promote maternal and infant wellbeing.
Highlights
Home visitsThe nurse performs physical assessments of the mother and infant while considering any mental health, social, and environmental factors, which might affect family adaptation
Childbirth is recognized as a time of significant physiological adaptation for both the mother and newborn, but it is a period of considerable psychological and psychosocial adjustment, which extends to families and communities (Chalmers et al, 2008; Phillips et al, 2013; Haran et al, 2014)
This article describes how a community postpartum nursing program located within a primary health care center, Healthy & Home, in Saskatchewan, Canada, has effectively evolved to meet the acute care needs of postpartum families and how it promotes maternal and infant wellbeing through its various components
Summary
The nurse performs physical assessments of the mother and infant while considering any mental health, social, and environmental factors, which might affect family adaptation. Home visits are scheduled around newborn feeding times whenever possible to facilitate feeding assessments, appropriate support, and follow-up. Any required newborn blood work, such as the metabolic screen, total serum bilirubin, and direct antiglobulin test are drawn and taken to the laboratory by the nurse. There is no standardized endpoint to the services a family will receive from Healthy & Home; rather, the goal of care is to achieve stability, safety, and support, which considers the family’s perception of need and any cultural and/or psychosocial considerations. The family’s referral information is passed on to the public health office and the family is advised to have their newborn assessed by their family physician in 1–2 weeks for ongoing care
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