Background: Postnatal care is a component of the maternity care continuum, which is often under-valued and under-offered. The aim of this study was to explore healthcare providers’ (HCPs) views about postnatal follow-up care (PNFC) offered to women in Oman. Methods: This qualitative study was performed from May 2021 to January 2022; 29 individual participated in semi-structured telephone interviews with staff nurses (N=20), nurse/midwives (N=5), and doctors (N=4) from Khoula and Ibra hospitals and Al Amerat, Muttrah and Al Qabil health centers in Oman. Conventional content analysis was guided by Erlingsson and Brysiewicz. Results: Seventeen sub-categories and four categories emerged from the data; they included communication and timing of PNFC, provision of PNFC with various components, challenges and needs for providing PNFC, and the impact of COVID-19 on PNFC. Conclusion: Providing postnatal follow-up care in Oman is challenging for HCPs due to lack of clinics dedicated to postnatal care, no scheduled appointment times for women, very limited guidance within the National Maternity Care guideline, and some HCPs (i.e., nurses) with no formal education on the components of postnatal care. These hinder the ability to provide information, education, support, and services to women. |
- Langlois ÉV, Miszkurka M, Zunzunegui MV, et al. Inequities in postnatal care in low-and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2015;93:259-70.
- McLellan J, Laidlaw A. Perceptions of postnatal care: factors associated with primiparous mothers perceptions of postnatal communication and care. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2013;13:227.
- Woodward BM, Zadoroznyj M, Benoit C. Beyond birth: women’s concerns about post-birth care in an Australian urban community. Women and Birth. 2016;29:153-9.
- World Health Organization. WHO technical consultation on postpartum and postnatal care. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2010.
- World Health Organization. Nurturing care for early childhood development. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018.
- Campbell OMR, Cegolon L, Macleod D, Benova L. Length of stay after childbirth in 92 countries and associated factors in 30 low-and middle-income countries: compilation of reported data and a cross-sectional analysis from nationally representative surveys. PLoS Medicine. 2016;13:e1001972.
- Public Health Agency of Canada. Family centred maternity and newborn care: National guidelines. Ottawa: Public Health Agency of Canada; 2020. [Cited 23 June 2022]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/maternity-newborn-care-guidelines.html
- International Confederation of Midwives. Essential competencies for midwifery practice. London: International Confederation of Midwives; 2018.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Postnatal care up to 8 weeks after birth. London: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; 2015. [Cited 2 July 2022]. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg37
- World Health Organization. WHO recommendations on postnatal care of the mother and newborn. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2013.
- World Health Organization. What matters to women in the postnatal period? Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. [Cited 2 July 2022]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news/item/22-04-2020-what-matters-to-women-in-the-postnatal-period
- Sultanate of Oman Ministry of Health. Pregnancy and childbirth management guidelines. Muscat: Sultanate of Oman Ministry of Health; 2016.
- Sultanate of Oman Ministry of Health. Annual health report 2019. Muscat: Sultanate of Oman Ministry of Health; 2019.
- Ghobashi M, Khandekar R. Satisfaction among expectant mothers with antenatal care services in the Musandam Region of Oman. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal. 2008;8:325-32.
- Aty A, Meky F, Morsy M, El Sayed M. Overall adequacy of antenatal care in Oman: Secondary analysis of national reproductive health survey data, 2008. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal. 2014;20:781-8.
- Al Maqbali F. Navigating antenatal care in Oman: A grounded theory of women’s and healthcare professionals’ experiences. [Thesis]. UK: The University of Manchester; 2018.
- Erlingsson C, Brysiewicz P. A hands-on guide to doing content analysis. African Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2017;7:93-9.
- Hsieh H-F, Shannon SE. Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research. 2005;15:1277-88.
- Lincoln YS, Guba EG. Naturalistic inquiry. 1st ed. California: Sage Publications; 1985.
- Smith H, Harvey C, Portela A. Discharge preparation and readiness after birth: A scoping review of global policies, guidelines and literature. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2022;22:281.
- Stumbras K, Rankin K, Caskey R, et al. Guidelines and interventions related to the postpartum visit for low-risk postpartum women in high and upper middle income countries. Maternal and Child Health Journal. 2016;20:103-16.
- Kearns A, Caglia J, ten Hoope Bender P, Langer A. Antenatal and postnatal care: A review of innovative models for improving availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of services in low resource settings. International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. 2016;123:540-8.
- Shrestha J, Yadav DK. Barriers to Utilization of Postnatal Care Services: mothers and health providers perspective. Journal of Nepal Health Research Council. 2021;19:311-5.
- Sacks E, Masvawure TB, Atuyambe LM, et al. Postnatal care experiences and barriers to care utilization for home- and facility-delivered newborns in Uganda and Zambia. Maternal and Child Health Journal. 2017;21:599-606.
- Brodribb W, Zadoroznyj M, Dane A. The views of mothers and GPs about postpartum care in Australian general practice. BMC Family Practice. 2013;14:139.
- World Health Organization. WHO recommendations on maternal and newborn care for a positive postnatal experience. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022.
- McKinney J, Keyser L, Clinton S, Pagliano C. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 736: optimizing postpartum care. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2018;131:784-5.
- Clift-Matthews V. Let Cinderella go to the ball. British Journal of Midwifery. 2007;15:396.
- Che’Muda CM, Ismail TAT, Ab Jalil R, et al. Postnatal breastfeeding education at one week after childbirth: What are the effects?. Women and Birth. 2019;32:e243-51.
- Mangwi Ayiasi R, Atuyambe LM, Kiguli J, et al. Use of mobile phone consultations during home visits by Community Health Workers for maternal and newborn care: Community experiences from Masindi and Kiryandongo districts, Uganda. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:560.
- Almalik MM. Understanding maternal postpartum needs: a descriptive survey of current maternal health services. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2017;26:4654-63.
- Izudi J, Akwang GD, Amongin D. Early postnatal care use by postpartum mothers in Mundri East County, South Sudan. BMC Health Services Research. 2017;17:442.
- Brodribb, WE, Mitchell BL, Van Driel ML. Continuity of care in the post partum period: general practitioner experiences with communication. Australian Health Review. 2016;40:484-9.
- Yonemoto N, Dowswell T, Nagai S, Mori R. Schedules for home visits in the early postpartum period. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2017;8:CD009326.
- Haran C, Van Driel M, Mitchell BL, Brodribb WE. Clinical guidelines for postpartum women and infants in primary care–a systematic review. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2014;14:51.
- Bick D, Cheyne H, Chang YS, Fisher J. Maternal postnatal health during the COVID-19 pandemic: vigilance is needed. Midwifery. 2020;88:102781.
- Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. Guidance for Antenatal and Postnatal Services in the evolving Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. London: Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists; 2020.
- Hessami K, Romanelli C, Chiurazzi M, Cozzolino M. COVID-19 pandemic and maternal mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine. 2022;35:4014-21.
|