Successful early postpartum support linked to management, informational, and relational continuity.
OBJECTIVE
to explore ways in which parents experience support from health professionals in the early postpartum period and understand how parenting support is related to management, informational, and relational continuity.


DESIGN
a qualitative study consisting of focus group interviews followed by deductive content analysis.


SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS
a large city in Sweden; 18 women and 16 men.


FINDINGS
study participants reported that parenting support occurs by providing consistent advice; indicating who to ask when care questions arise; enabling access to the care system when needs surface; providing sufficient information about self-management for mother or baby; involving parents in discharge planning; distributing information that empowers parents; enabling team/clinical care consistency; and appointing persons in the care system who can foster parents׳ feelings of trust--in short: by enabling management, informational, and relational continuity.


KEY CONCLUSIONS
care continuity experiences lead to perceived parenting support in the early postpartum period. Effective health care organisations within the postpartum care system must embody these types of continuity: management, informational, and relational. There is a need for researchers to design tools for measuring continuity and for policymakers to enable coherence and co-ordination among professionals.


IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
identify parents׳ needs so that health professionals can plan for parents׳ first few weeks at home and ensure that parents get access to appropriate care.
['Barimani|M|M|', 'Vikström|A|A|']
D000328:Adult D003266:Continuity of Patient Care D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007231:Infant, Newborn D008297:Male D000068101:Maternal-Child Health Services D008875:Middle Aged D008880:Midwifery D011181:Postnatal Care D049590:Postpartum Period D011247:Pregnancy D013548:Sweden D055815:Young Adult
Early postpartum period Parenting support Care continuity Focus group study