Postpartumzorg in de eerste lijn: samenvatting van een multidisciplinaire richtlijn (deel 1)

Abstract

Postpartum care in primary care: summary of a multidisciplinary guideline The lying time at the maternity ward for a healthy woman giving birth to a healthy baby is now on average less than 3 days. Therefore, primary care providers have a greater responsibility in the follow-up of the mother and newborn during the postpartum period. This article is a summary of the first part of the multidisciplinary guideline Postpartum care in primary care developed by the national Working Group Development of Primary Care Guidelines (WOREL) according to the internationally recognised methods of guideline development. The guideline formulates recommendations for quality postpartum care in collaboration with all involved healthcare providers with the aim of recognising and addressing complications in the newborn and mother in a timely manner. It is important that healthcare providers know what is normal, which red flags they should not miss, have basic knowledge about conditions and situations, and timely refer the patient to primary or secondary care. The article describes what attitude to adopt in case of life-threatening and serious complications in the maternity woman (postpartum haemorrhage, pre-eclampsia, venous thromboembolism and endometritis) and the newborn (jaundice, neonatal sepsis, congenital heart defect, dehydration, nutritional difficulties and metabolic disorders), as well as in case of less severe complications or complaints in the maternity woman (perineal pain, headache, constipation, haemorrhoids, urinary incontinence, fatigue and back pain) and the baby (gastro-oesophageal reflux, thrush, nappy dermatitis, intestinal cramps, conjunctivitis, cord infections and fever). Finally, specific situations in both the mother (prevention of antibody formation, rubella vaccination, thyroid disorders and gestational diabetes) and the newborn (cord care, prevention of sudden death, vitamin K and vitamin D substitution, and child abuse) are highlighted.