Effect of postpartum home care on mothers’ health

Providing postpartum services is one of the most important factors in prevention of adverse maternal outcomes. This study was performed with aim to evaluate the effect of postpartum home care on mothers’ health.

This clinical trial study was conducted on 62 mothers in the postpartum stage in Isfahan in 2015. Mothers were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire in triple visits of the post-partum period. Each intervention session at home, was provided according to the national protocol. Data was analyzed by SPSS software (version 18) and independent t‑test, Fisher's Exact, Chi‑square and Mann-Whitney tests. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

After the intervention, there was a statistically significant difference between experimental and control groups in terms of infection (p = 0.029) and pain and swelling at the suture site (p = 0.021) and feeling pain in the abdomen, thighs, breasts, teeth (p = 0.026). Therefore, the conditions were significantly better in the experimental group than the control group. Also, the mean score of knowledge of the correct pattern of breastfeeding (p = 0.02) and satisfaction with the performance of the health care team (p <0.001) was significantly higher in the experimental group than the control group.

Providing postpartum home care services has increased maternal health, such as reducing abdominal, side, leg, thigh, breast and tooth pain, and episiotomy problems. This intervention improved the breastfeeding process and increased maternal satisfaction.