In many settings in Sub-Saharan Africa, quality postpartum care, education, and support for the mother are often the missing components of postnatal care delivery, which focuses on care of the baby. The lack of standard postpartum care for the mother contributes to maternal deaths. There is an urgent need for an integrated postpartum care delivery model that is comprehensive and meets clinical care, education, and support needs of mothers. Thus, the purpose of this project is to test and evaluate an innovative postpartum care, education, and support model known as Focused-PPC, in Tamale, Ghana. The Focused-PPC project will be the first of its kind to design an integrated and comprehensive group postpartum care delivery model, focused on clinical care of the mother and baby, as well as education and peer support in Ghana. Our model supports the clinical assessments and timeframes recommended by the World Health Organization and adopted by Ghana Health Service. Together with my partner organization, Savana Signatures NGO, we developed and tested Focused-PPC. Focused-PPC is being implemented in groups in health centers in Tamale, Ghana. Each group meets at 1-2 weeks, 6 weeks, and monthly thereafter for up to 1 year postpartum following the Ghana health service postnatal care and child welfare clinic schedule. Led by trained midwives in the health centers, each group session consists of postpartum clinical assessments for mother (in addition to baby), education, and support. Focused-PPC has the potential to change the postpartum care delivery model in Ghana and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Results from this implementation will be used to further refine and scale up the Focused-PPC model of postpartum care.
WASH insecurity—-the lack of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities—-is a major concern for global health and wellbeing. During pregnancy and postpartum, stages with increased vulnerability, WASH insecurity at the household level and in healthcare facilities can undermine the health and wellbeing of both mothers and their newborns. The overarching objective of this study is to understand how WASH insecurity at the household level and in health care facilities affect maternal and newborn health and general wellbeing. We utilize sequential interviews with pregnant women through postpartum, and interviews with health care workers. The study is conducted in Tamale in the northern region of Ghana. The findings of the project will help to identify appropriate WASH interventions for improving maternal and newborn health, a critical step towards improving global health.
Life-threatening complications that occur after childbirth are often unpredictable and require rapid response, thus, all women who have a baby should be knowledgeable about the warning signs of potential complications. The bulk of patient education about potential complications and instructions for self-care and recovery is typically provided during discharge. The patients’ ability to understand and remember these instructions has many consequences for her health, especially her ability to identify warning signs of potential complications in a timely manner. Patients’ low cognitive load during discharge education after childbirth is important to ensure comprehension and understanding of their instructions. However, there is a scarcity of research on patients’ cognitive load and stress during discharge education. Using an assessment tool and skin conductance, we investigate patients’ cognitive load and stress levels during discharge education after childbirth. Patient’s knowledge of potential complications will also be assessed before discharge education and 6 weeks after discharge.
The United States (U. S) has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income countries. Obstetric complications, especially during the postpartum period, account for most maternal deaths. Once a woman leaves the hospital, the burden is on her to recognize when something is wrong, and seek appropriate care. A major contributing factor to the high maternal death rates is due to delays in seeking and receiving emergency care for complications. Women’s knowledge of the warning signs of potential complications impacts timely recognition and care-seeking for complications. However, little research has been done on knowledge of warning signs of complications among postpartum women across the United States. In this project, funded by the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), I assessed postpartum women’s knowledge of the warning signs of potential complications 4-6 weeks after childbirth in Georgia, a state with high maternal mortality in the U.S.
Midwives, the primary maternity care providers in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, are instrumental in improving maternal/newborn health outcomes. The postpartum period (after birth) is a high-risk time frame for maternal deaths, and complications after delivery are the leading causes of maternal deaths worldwide. Midwives’ knowledge of postpartum care and potential complications determine the quality of care provided to women after childbirth, and is critical in the quest to decrease maternal mortality. In addition, it is essential that midwives provide education to the understanding of the patient on warning signs of potential complications after childbirth. This project is a survey of 245 midwives in the four main hospitals that provide inpatient maternity services in Tamale, Ghana. I assessed midwives’ knowledge of postpartum care and post-birth warning signs, knowledge of immediate newborn care and management of complications, education provided to postpartum patients, and midwives’ perceptions of knowledge to teach patients about complications and skills to manage complications.
This study assessed midwives’ knowledge of postpartum care and warning signs of complications in Tamale, Ghana. The specific aims were to assess midwives’ knowledge of postpartum care, assess midwives’ knowledge of postbirth warning signs, and identify factors associated with knowledge of postpartum care and postbirth warning signs.
Results Summary:
The average number of correct responses on 10 questions related to postpartum care was 65.8%. Most midwives were knowledgeable about questions on breastfeeding. However, correct responses to questions on location of fundus (41.6%), postpartum examination (46.5%), and care during the first two hours postpartum (57.6%) were low
Midwives were asked to identify warning signs of postpartum complications: the overall average was 6.3 (out of 9) warning signs identified
Only 28.1% of midwives identified all nine warning signs of complications. Knowledge of warning signs of life-threatening complications (pain in chest, obstructed breathing, thoughts of hurting oneself) were low. Years of experience was the only predictor of knowledge of warning signs of complications.
Dr. Yenupini Joyce Adams with postpartum woman and newborn, Kandeu, Malawi
In this project, funded by the American Nurses Foundation (ANF) and the Center for Gender in Global Context (GENCEN) at Michigan State University, I interviewed subsistence farmers (husband-and-wife farmer dyads) in rural communities in Ntcheu district, Malawi. I explored reasons for their decision to seek postpartum care, evaluated postpartum care received after delivery in health facilities, and examined husband’s knowledge and attendance at their wives’ postpartum care. I used an interviewer-administered survey methodology, which was innovative in that I included husband-and-wife dyads and interviewed them simultaneously but separately. No other postpartum care utilization study in Sub-Saharan Africa had interviewed husband-and-wife dyads prior to my study, despite abundant evidence that husbands, as household heads, influence wives’ decisions to seek care.
This dissertation examines the use of postpartum care within the context of a developing country, and more specifically, among rural communities in central Malawi. It is a three-manuscript dissertation. Manuscript one, an integrative review, identifies factors affecting the use of postpartum care in developing countries, guided by the three delays model.
Adams, Y.J., & Smith, B.A. (2018). Integrative review of factors that affect the use of postpartum care services in developing countries. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing, 47(3), 371-384. doi: 10.1016/j.jogn.2018.02.006
This study examined women’s evaluation of postpartum care services (postpartum clinical assessments, health education, and midwife kindness) received from midwives prior to discharge in rural health facilities, and husband-and-wife-farmer dyads’ reasons for their decisions to return for one-week postpartum care visits in rural central Malawi.
Results Summary:
Most women reported receiving partial basic routine postpartum assessments such as fundal check, bleeding check, breast exam/soreness, blood pressure and temperature check. The results reveal the inadequacy of assessments offered to women in rural health facilities prior to discharge
Women’s Evaluation of Postpartum Assessments and Acts of Kindness received from Midwives
Despite inadequate care, 77% of women felt midwives paid close attention to them and 83% gave an overall positive evaluation (3.5-5 on a scale of 1-5). Participants stated prior negative experiences, or not perceiving a need for care (feels fine), may potentially prevent them from returning for postpartum care visits in a health facility.
Women returned for one-week postpartum care visits because they were advised by midwives to return for care, and also to make sure their babies were examined. The main reason why husbands permitted their wives to return for postpartum care was because they wanted their wives to be examined, especially if they had a concern about their wives’ health.
This study examined husbands’ knowledge and attendance at their wives’ postpartum visit in a sample of rural husband-and-wife farmer dyads in central Malawi.
Results Summary:
Many husbands admitted they did not know about care their wives received in health facilities
Percent agreement between dyad responses, restricted to dyads in which both husband and wife gave an answer of “yes” or “no” % Agreement (n/N)*
N = 70 % Do not know (n)
Postpartum Assessments
Blood Pressure
56.7 (17/30)
57.1 (40)
Temperature
40.7 (11/27)
61.4 (43)
Abdominal Exam
64.3 (18/28)
60.0 (42)
Vaginal Exam/Checked Bleeding
48.5 (16/33)
52.9 (37)
Breast Exam/Soreness
28.0 (7/25)
64.3 (45)
Baby Exam
74.5 (38/51)
27.1 (19)
Table from publication: Doi: 10.1080/07399332.2018.1491976
The percent agreements between dyads were low. The odds of reporting that the woman received postpartum assessments were greater among husbands than among wives, meaning that husbands tended to say yes that their wives were assessed even when the wives were not.
Close to 60% of husbands did not go with their wives for their one-week postpartum care visits, with top three reasons being at work/busy doing other work, out of town, and did not see the need
We recommend that nurses/midwives should be encouraged to welcome husbands as partners in their wives’ care, by either allowing them into private examination rooms or providing them with information on the status of their wives’ health. Women should also be encouraged to have open discussions with their husbands about the care they received in health facilities, and any health issues or concerns from visits.
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