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Weaknesses in the Continuity of Care of Puerperal Women: An Integrative Literature Review

Fragilidades na continuidade do cuidado de puérperas: Revisão integrativa de literatura

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to identify how the transition of care from the hospital to the community occurs from the perspective of puerperal women at risk. An integrative literature review was performed, with the question: “How does the transition of care for at-risk puerperal women from the hospital to the community occur?” The search period ranged from 2013 to 2020, in the following databases: PubMed, LILACS, SciELO, and Scopus. MESH, DeCS and Boolean operators “OR” and “AND” are used in the following crossover analysis:patient transfer ORtransition care ORcontinuity of patient care ORpatient discharge ANDpostpartum period, resulting in 6 articles. The findings denote discontinuity of care, given the frequency of non-adherence to the puerperal consultation. Transition studies of care in the puerperium were not found, which requires proposing new studies.

Keywords
transitional care; postpartum period; continuity of patient care

Resumo

O objetivo do presente estudo foi identificar como ocorre a transição do cuidado do hospital para a comunidade na perspectiva de puérperas de risco. Foi realizada uma revisão integrativa da literatura, com a questão: “Como ocorre a transição do cuidado das puérperas de risco do hospital para a comunidade?” A pesquisa foi realizada com recorte temporal de 2013 a 2020, nas bases de dados: PubMed, LILACS, SciELO e Scopus. Utilizou-se MESH, DECS e operadores booleanos “OR” e “AND” resultando nos seguintes cruzamentos:patient transfer ORtransition care ORcontinuity of patient care ORpatient discharge ANDpostpartum period, com análise final de 6 artigos. Os achados denotam descontinuidade do cuidado, visto a frequência de não adesão à consulta puerperal. Estudos de transição do cuidado no puerpério não foram encontrados, o que requer que novos estudos sejam propostos.

Palavras-chave
cuidado transicional; período pós-parto; continuidade da assistência ao paciente

Introduction

Care transition (CT) is understood as a set of actions aimed at ensuring care continuity at different points of healthcare and or between different sectors of the same place. In addition, it encompasses a comprehensive care plan and should be performed by well-prepared professionals, whether in user and family education and their engagement as active subjects in decisions, or in the proper transfer of information between transition professionals.11 Coleman EA, Boult CAmerican Geriatrics Society Health Care Systems Committee. Improving the quality of transitional care for persons with complex care needs. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2003;51 (04):556–557. Doi: 10.1046/j.1532-5415.2003.51186.x
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1532-5415.2003...
In this context, maternity CT, after delivery, for primary health care (PHC), is a fundamental strategy.

The puerperium begins immediately after delivery, and lasts roughly 6 weeks, being its termination unforeseen, because it is related not only to anatomical and physiological changes, but to a framework of psychosocial issues that include self-esteem and reorganization of personal and family life.22 Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Protocolos da Atenção Básica: Saúde das Mulheres / Ministério da Saúde. Instituto Sírio-Libanês de Ensino e Pesquisa – Brasília: Ministério da Saúde, 2016. 230 p. Disponível em: <https://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/protocolos_atencao_basica_saude_mulheres.pdf>. Acesso em: 28 abr. de 2022
https://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicaco...
Another author considers the variability of time that comprises this period, which can be from 8 months to 1 year.33 Barros SMO. Enfermagem no ciclo gravídico-puerperal. Barueri, SP: Manole, Universidade Federal de São Paulo; 2006:193–210

On the other hand, the risk postpartum period is characterized by situations in which postpartum women present complications in their health condition, due to preexisting diseases or intercurrences generated by both organic and socioeconomic unfavorable factors.44 Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Portaria 1.020, de 29 de maio de 2013. Disponível em: <https://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/saudelegis/gm/2013/prt1020_29_05_2013.html>. Acesso 28 abr de 2022
https://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/saudelegi...
In this period, women undergo physical, psychological, social, and cultural changes; thus, quality care aims to maintain maternal health and act early in the event of complications, to minimize or treat associated comorbidities.55 Soares APC, Costa TCS, Cavalcanti RAS. Ganho de peso gestacional e comorbidades em puérperas do nordeste do Brasil. Nutr Clín Diet Hosp. 2020;40(01):99–105. Doi: 10.12873/401silva
https://doi.org/10.12873/401silva...

Thus, aiming at the continuity of postpartum care, professionals and users/family members articulated in health services share information that contributes to the development of a care management plan both in the assistance provided in health services and in the promotion of supported self-care. From this, care continuity is the result of a joint, articulated, reflective, negotiated, singular and shared action.66 Utzumi FC, Lacerda MR, Bernadino E, Gomes IM, Aued GK, Sousa SM. Continuidade do cuidado e o interacionismo simbólico: Um entendimento possível. Texto Contexto Enferm. 2018;27(02): e4250016. Doi: 10.1590/0104-070720180004250016
https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-07072018000...
In this perspective, inadequate CT can negatively affect treatment adherence, medication errors, low quality of life and increased risks for hospital readmissions.77 Coleman EA, Mahoney E, Parry C. Assessing the quality of preparation for posthospital care from the patient's perspective: the care transitions measure. Med Care. 2005;43(03):246–255. Doi: 10.1097/00005650-200503000-00007
https://doi.org/10.1097/00005650-2005030...
,88 Meyers AG, Salanitro A, Wallston KA, Cawthon C, Vasilevskis EE, Goggins KM, et al. Determinants of health after hospital discharge: rationale and design of the Vanderbilt Inpatient Cohort Study (VICS). BMC Health Serv Res. 2014;14:10

In this context, the assistance to the puerperium covers several points of the Health Care Network (HCN), starting, first, in maternity, when the woman is oriented on care to her health, identification of warning signs and symptoms that indicate the need for reassessment in health services.99 Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Principais questões sobre consulta de puerpério na Atenção Primária à Saúde. Portal Boas Práticas. 2021. Rio de Janeiro. Disponível em: <https://portaldeboaspraticas.iff.fiocruz.br/atencao-mulher/principais-questoes-sobre-a-consulta-de-puerperio-na-atencao-primaria-a-saude/ >. Acesso em 24 mar. de 2022
https://portaldeboaspraticas.iff.fiocruz...
At this point of attention, it is recommended that qualified processes for the immediate postpartum be guaranteed, and the development of a care plan for the puerperal woman and the newborn (NB) and mechanisms of communication and integration with PHC for care continuity.1010 Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Saúde da mulher na gestação, parto e puerpério. Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein. São Paulo: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein: Ministério da Saúde, 2019. 56 p. Disponível em: <file:///C:/Users/denis/OneDrive/%C3%81rea%20de%20Trabalho/03091259-nt-gestante-planificasus.pdf>. Acesso em: 18 abr. de 2022
file:///C:/Users/denis/OneDrive/%C3%81re...

For this, the attention to the puerperium is complex and requires attention and continuity in the various points of attention of the HCN. The subject requires exploring the literature, and the development of the present study aims to identify how the transition from hospital care to the community occurs from the perspective of at-risk postpartum women.

Methods

This is an integrative literature review study. The study consisted of six stages: 1) 1st stage: identification of the theme and selection of the research question; 2nd stage: establishment of inclusion and exclusion criteria; 3rd stage: Identification of preselected and selected studies; 4th Stage: Categorization of the selected studies; 5th stage: Analysis and interpretation of the results, and 6th stage: Presentation of the review/synthesis of knowledge.1111 Botelho LLR, Cunha CCA, Macedo M. O método da revisão integrativa nos estudos organizacionais. Gestão Soc [Internet]. 2011;5 (11):121–136. Doi: 10.21171/ges.v5i11.1220
https://doi.org/10.21171/ges.v5i11.1220...

The development was based on the following question: “How does the transition from the care of at-risk mothers from hospital to community occur?” For the construction of the research question, the PICO strategy (population, phenomenon of interest and context) was used, being possible, in this way, to elaborate a delimited and well-founded question that initiated the investigation.1212 Santos MARC, Galvão MGA. A elaboração da pergunta adequada de pesquisa. Residência Pediátrica. 2014;4(2):53–56. Disponível em: <https://cdn.publisher.gn1.link/residenciapediatrica.com.br/pdf/v4n2a04.pdf >. Acesso em: 15 mar. de 2022
https://cdn.publisher.gn1.link/residenci...
The searches were based on Medical Subject Headings (MESH) and Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) and Boolean operators “OR” and “AND,” resulting in the following crossings:patient transfer ORtransition care OR continuity of patient care AND charge OR patient discharge AND postpartum period.

The selection of articles took place from June 2021 to June 2022, in the following databases: National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health (PubMed), Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo) and SciVerse Scopus (Scopus).

The process of searching and analyzing the studies was performed jointly by four researchers, aiming at data reliability. The inclusion criteria were: primary studies, in Portuguese, English and Spanish, in the period from 2013 to 2020, moment when the World Health Organization (WHO) launches the 2nd update of guidelines for postnatal care focusing on mothers and newborns in countries with limited resources, with the aim of reducing maternal and neonatal deaths from the review of evidence-based best practices.1313 World Health Organization. WHO recommendations on Postnatal care of the mother and newborn. WHO. 2013. Disponível em: <https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/97603/9789241506649_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y>. Acesso em: 24 abr. 2022.
https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/hand...
The exclusion criteria were: review studies, theses, dissertations, editorials, case studies, and manuals.1111 Botelho LLR, Cunha CCA, Macedo M. O método da revisão integrativa nos estudos organizacionais. Gestão Soc [Internet]. 2011;5 (11):121–136. Doi: 10.21171/ges.v5i11.1220
https://doi.org/10.21171/ges.v5i11.1220...

The searches in the aforementioned databases resulted in 482 studies, 127 from SciELO, 238 from PubMed, 109 from Scopus, and 8 from LILACS. Thus, to organize the references found, an online tool called ENDNOTE was used, which allowed, mainly, the identification of duplicate articles. After the exclusion of duplicate articles, the titles and abstracts of the 387 remaining articles were read, of which 10 met the inclusion criteria and were fully read. The reading was performed separately by the four researchers and the disagreements in the analysis were discussed in a meeting of experts. Thus, eight studies were part of the corpus of the research (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
PRISMA Flowchart.

Given the extraction of data from the results, an instrument adapted from the literature by the authors was used, which includes characteristics of article identification (title, authors, year, country of publication, type of study, main contributions). The results were arranged through charts and the analysis of articles was performed descriptively, with the synthesis of evidence from each publication.

Results

Of the six studies included, five belonged to the PubMed database and one to the SciELO database. Of these, five articles are in English and one in Portuguese. According to the years of publication, two were published in 2016, one in 2017, and three in 2020. The countries of origin were: Australia, Turkey, United States of America, Ethiopia, Sweden, and Brazil, with one article each. The number of participants was 22,777 women. The studies are described and listed in Chart 1.

Chart 1
Presentation of included studies

The first study used a qualitative method through semistructured interviews, and sought to know the perceptions of women about forms of postpartum care. It was held in Australia and involved 15 women. The study highlighted an important gap in the postpartum period characterized by lack of information and psychosocial care, both in the public and private sectors. However, it still showed that women who gave birth in the public sector had a better follow-up, all received home visits or a phone call within 10 days and a guarantee that they had someone to examine them and take care of them. The highest levels of satisfaction were women who opted for home birth, who had a midwifery follow-up in the prenatal, childbirth and postpartum periods and did not report concern or insecurity.

From this perspective, the second study adopted a mixed methodology; it was conducted in Stockholm, Sweden, and involved 363 women. It investigated the satisfaction perceived by mothers regarding prenatal care, postpartum care, and child healthcare in the first two postpartum weeks. Child and postpartum health support were considered equally satisfactory, while prenatal support was classified as much less satisfactory. The chances of being satisfied with postpartum support were twice as high for mothers who did not have emergency consultations after delivery when compared with those who had emergency visits. Mothers who remained in the hospital for ≥ 3 days were 3 times more satisfied with postpartum support compared with those who remained for 2 days.

The third study was conducted in Turkey in 2015 and aimed to assess readiness for hospital discharge and the perception of social support received in the postpartum period. It involved 610 participants and used an instrument divided into three parts, Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale – New Mother Form (RHD-NMF), which was developed by Weiss et al.2020 Weiss ME, Piacentine LB. Psychometric properties of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale. J Nurs Meas. 2006;14(03): 163–180. Doi: 10.1891/jnm-v14i3a002
https://doi.org/10.1891/jnm-v14i3a002...
that evaluates whether the woman is ready to be discharged from hospital and the third part included the “Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support” (MSPSS) that was developed by Zimmet in 1988 to assess social support. Most women (94.3%) reported being ready to go home. In this sense, evaluating the factors that lead to readiness for hospital discharge, it was found that 85.9% received information about hospital discharge and that most of these were provided by doctors and nurses.

Regarding the fourth study, this was a retrospective cohort study, conducted in the United States, from 2010 to 2014, with 21,789 participants. This study aimed to characterize the risk and results associated with postpartum fragmentation in readmissions where the readmission hospital was different from the delivery hospital. As a result, evaluating the indications for readmission, fragmentation was more likely for heart failure (28.6%), thromboembolism (28.4%), and respiratory infections (33.9%). Less likely causes include hypertension (11.1%), wound complications (10.7%), and uterine infections (11.0%). Thus, it was concluded that discontinuity of postpartum care was associated with increased risk of severe morbidity.

The fifth study, in turn, was conducted in the city of Motta (northwest Ethiopia, Africa) in 2019. At the time, it sought to evaluate the completion of continuing maternity care, the Continuum of maternity care, that is, the continuation of care from pregnancy to the postpartum period. In this study, 77.4% of women lived in rural areas, 69.6% without formal education and 63% started prenatal consultations in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. Of the 819 participants, 283 had home births and only 10 received postpartum care by health professionals. Overall, of the 819 women, 346 (47%) had postpartum appointments.

The sixth study was conducted in Brazil, from 2011 to 2012, consisting of a cross-sectional and quantitative study that aimed to estimate the adequacy of the healthcare line during pregnancy and postpartum in puerperal and newborn users of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS, in the Portuguese acronym). Of this, 16,220 women participated. It was found that the southeastern (41.7%) and northeastern (29.4%) regions concentrated most of the births. Of the total participants, 74.8% of the women started prenatal care until the 16th week of pregnancy and only 32.2% underwent the puerperal consultation. The study revealed that there is a lower chance of care continuity in women living in the northeast, north, and midwest regions. In multivariate analysis, considering schooling, parity, and place of residence, the North and Northeast regions presented a seven to ten times greater chance of inadequate care than the South region. These findings indicate that the coordination of care is still a challenge in the healthcare of women and children in the puerperal pregnancy period.

Discussion

Of the six studies included, two showed more subjective issues involving women's perception and satisfaction in the postpartum period; one addressed readiness for hospital discharge, one involved readmission issues in the postpartum period and associated risk factors; a study on the continuum of maternity care, and finally, a study involving the adequacy of the maternal-child care line.

The currently available evidence does not address hospital CT for the community of puerperal women, nor those considered at risk. In short, all studies mentioned directly or indirectly care fragmentation, the fragility of the continuum of maternal care evidenced the lack of puerperal consultation and the inadequacy of the line of maternal and childcare. Another study points out that care actions are incipient, and that comprehensive care is expected in the RAS, it is fragile, also considering the lack of follow-up after hospital discharge.2121 Bandeira LR, Kolankiewicz ACB, Alievi MF, Trindade LF, Loro MM. Fragmented comprehensive health care for ostomized person in the health care network.. Escola Anna Nery. Rev Enferm (Lisboa). 2020;24:e20190297 Therefore, the CT process from the hospital to home is a challenging moment, as sometimes it is necessary for this care to be performed by the family members themselves.2222 Rodrigues CD, Lorenzini E, Onwuegbuzie AJ, Oelke ND, Garcia CF, Malkiewez MM, et al. Care Transition From the Perspectives of Oncological Patients and the Multiprofessional Care Team: A Mixed Methods Study. Cancer Nurs. 2022

Study 1, conducted in Australia, found a gap in the postpartum period characterized by lack of information and psychosocial care. Still, women assisted in the public sector had better postpartum follow-up compared with the private sector. As for the guidance on reevaluation in health services, study 2, Sweden, made clear that the most sought service are the emergency sectors, denoting disarticulation with PHC. In terms of satisfaction perceived by women, there is greater satisfaction of those who opted for home birth, study 1, and who had a continuous follow-up in the prenatal, childbirth, and puerperium periods. Satisfaction was also perceived in women, study 2, who remained longer in hospital, that is, who had more direct and prolonged postpartum care.

For Barimani et al,1515 Barimani M, Oxelmark L, Johansson SE, Hylander I. Support and continuity during the first 2 weeks postpartum. Scand J Caring Sci. 2015;29(03):409–417. Doi: 10.1111/scs.12144.10.1111/scs.12144
https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12144.10.111...
greater flexibility in hospital stay could improve the satisfaction of new mothers. However, understanding that satisfaction is related to more direct assistance in the postpartum period, it can be inferred that care continuity needs to be guaranteed in PHC, since it is responsible for coordination of care and longitudinal monitoring.1010 Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Saúde da mulher na gestação, parto e puerpério. Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein. São Paulo: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein: Ministério da Saúde, 2019. 56 p. Disponível em: <file:///C:/Users/denis/OneDrive/%C3%81rea%20de%20Trabalho/03091259-nt-gestante-planificasus.pdf>. Acesso em: 18 abr. de 2022
file:///C:/Users/denis/OneDrive/%C3%81re...
A systematic review study with meta-analysis showed a significant reduction of one and a half days in hospital stay in favor of patients who received CT intervention.2323 Trindade LF, Boell JEW, Lorenzini E, Montañez WC, Malkiewiez M, Pituskin E, et al. Effectiveness of care transition strategies for colorectal cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Support Care Cancer. 2022;30(07):6251–6261. Doi: 10.1007/s00520-022-07033-2
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-07033...

Therefore, for the care continuity to occur, it is recommended that the maternity hospital report the discharge of the puerperal woman and the NB to the health unit of the PHC to which they are linked so that the appointments are scheduled, guaranteed the First Week of Integral Health (4). Regarding readiness for hospital discharge, the original study that validated the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS) was published in 2006 and involved 356 participants, including 121 adult patients (medical-surgical), 122 postpartum mothers and 113 fathers of hospitalized children.2020 Weiss ME, Piacentine LB. Psychometric properties of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale. J Nurs Meas. 2006;14(03): 163–180. Doi: 10.1891/jnm-v14i3a002
https://doi.org/10.1891/jnm-v14i3a002...
In Brazil, the instrument for adults was adapted transculturally in 2015;2424 Siqueira TH, Vila VSC, Weiss ME. Cross-cultal adaptation of the instrument Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale - Adult Form. Rev Bras Enferm. 2018;71(03):1046–1054. Doi: 10.1590/0034-7167-2017-0241
https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2017-0...
however, the specific version of the puerperal women has not been validated so far. This version is only available in English, Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, and Polish.2525 Marquette University. Readiness for hospital discharg scale. College of Nursing. 2022. Disponível em: <https://www.marquette.edu/nursing/readiness-hospital-discharge-scale.php >. Acessoem 12 abr. de 2022.
https://www.marquette.edu/nursing/readin...

In study 3, from Turkey, the RHDS scale was applied for puerperal women, showing that 94.3% were ready for hospital discharge and 85.9% received guidance for discharge by doctors and nurses. The scale was also used in Poland, study 4, and data indicated that 96.5% of women reported being ready for discharge. The perception of women regarding readiness for hospital discharge is related to their participation in the discharge process. From this evaluation, it is possible to identify early mothers at risk of problems in the postdischarge period, especially those who need more care and monitoring, to prevent adverse results.2626 Weiss ME, Ryan P, Lokken L. Validity and reliability of the Perceived Readiness for Discharge After Birth Scale. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2006;35(01):34–45. Doi: 10.1111/ j.1552-6909.2006.00020.x
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2006...

Regarding readmissions and readmissions in the postpartum period, a study performed in Tunisia (North Africa) had as statistically significant risk factors for readmission cesarean section, emergency cesarean section, anemia, and thrombocytopenia.2727 Kehila M, Magdoud K, Touhami O, Abouda HS, Jeridi S, Marzouk SF, et al. Sortie précoce en post-partum: résultats et facteurs de risque de ré hospitalization. [Early postpartum discharge: outcomes and risk factors of readmission]Pan Afr Med J. 2016; 24:189. Doi: 10.11604/pamj.2016.24.189.9371
https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2016.24.18...
A study conducted in Massachusetts, United States, confirms the finding of increased risk of readmissions after cesarean delivery. It also cites as main causes complications of the surgical wound and infections.2828 Declercq E, Barger M, Cabral HJ, Evans SR, Kotelchuck M, Simon C, et al. Maternal outcomes associated with planned primary cesarean births compared with planned vaginal births. Obstet Gynecol. 2007; 109(03):669–677. Doi: 10.1097/01.AOG.0000255668.20639.40
https://doi.org/10.1097/01.AOG.000025566...

Which sought to relate the causes of hospital readmissions associated with fragmentation of care in the postpartum period, also found complications of the wound and uterine infections as associated causes. It also related these findings to high hospital costs and long duration of hospitalizations. In addition to the causes of readmissions identified, women may present an increased risk of certain morbidities in their subsequent pregnancies.2929 Sandall J, Tribe RM, Avery L, Mola G, Visser GH, Homer CS, et al. Short-term and long-term effects of caesarean section on the health of women and children. Lancet. 2018;392(10155): 1349–1357 Another study that aimed to analyze puerperal complications identified a high prevalence of complications associated with the high rate of cesarean sections and invasive procedures in vaginal delivery.3030 Monteschio LVC, Marcon SS, Santos RMS, et al. Complicações puerperais em um modelo medicalizado de assistência ao parto. REME Rev Min Enferm. 2020;24:1319 Therefore, it is expected that, after hospital discharge, this care will be continuous, to provide comprehensive care, by the multidisciplinary team of primary healthcare.2121 Bandeira LR, Kolankiewicz ACB, Alievi MF, Trindade LF, Loro MM. Fragmented comprehensive health care for ostomized person in the health care network.. Escola Anna Nery. Rev Enferm (Lisboa). 2020;24:e20190297

Concerning the continuing care from maternity to the community, the two studies that addressed this theme showed that the puerperal consultation occurred in 47% in Ethiopia (Africa) and 32.2% in Brazil. In this context, Brazilian studies have identified a low rate of adherence to puerperal consultation, ranging from 16.8 to 43.08%.3131 Hass CN, Teixeira LB, Beghetto MG. Adequacy of prenatal care in a family health strategy program from Porto Alegre-RS. Rev Gaúcha Enferm. 2013;34(03):22–30. Doi: 10.1590/S1983-14472013000300003
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1983-1447201300...
,3232 Fusquine RS, Lino NCF, Chagas ACF, Muller KTC. Adesão e rejeição à consulta Puerperal por mulheres de uma unidade básica de saúde da família. Arquivos de Ciências da Saúde, 2019; 26 (1), 37– 40. Disponível em: < cienciasdasaude.famerp.br/index.php/racs/article/view/1241 >. Acesso em: 16 abr. de 2021
cienciasdasaude.famerp.br/index.php/racs...

The studies mentioned above consider adherence to puerperal consultation as, at least, the attendance to one consultation. Nevertheless, this scenario falls short of that recommended by the WHO,3333 World Health Organization. Recommendations on maternal and newborn care for a positive postnatal experience. WHO. 2022. Disponível em: <https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240045989>. Acesso em: 24 abr. de 2022.
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/...
which provides for a minimum of 3 postpartum consultations, thus distributed: one between 48 and 72 hours after delivery; another between 7 and 14 days, and the third, in the 6th week.

When the reasons for nonadherence are investigated, there are reasons for forgetfulness, complications with the NB, transportation difficulties, and distance between home and health unit.3434 Pinto IR, Martins VE, Oliveira JF, Oliveira KF, Paschoini MC, Ruiz MT. Adesão à consulta puerperal: facilitadores e barreiras. Esc Anna Nery. 2021;25(02):e20200249. Doi: 10.1590/2177-9465-EAN-2020-0249
https://doi.org/10.1590/2177-9465-EAN-20...
As associated factors, it is found that puerperal consultation is related to lower income and schooling, as well as not being addressed/valued during prenatal consultations.3535 Gonçalves CS, Cesar JA, Marmitt LP. Gonçalves CVl. Frequência e fatores associados à não realização de consulta puerperal em estudo de coorte. Rev. Bras. Saúde Mater. Infant. Recife. 2019;19 (01):71–78. https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-93042019000100004
https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-93042019000...

In this regard, to investigate the orientation on the importance of puerperal consultations both during prenatal care and in the immediate postpartum period in the hospital, Vilela et al.3636 Vilela MLF, Pereira QLC. Puerperal consultation: guidance on its importance. J. Health NPEPS [Internet]. 2018;3(01):228–240. Doi: 10.30681/25261010
https://doi.org/10.30681/25261010...
performed a study with 216 puerperal women, in a municipality of the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. They found that 92.1% of the puerperal women did not receive prenatal care and only 5.6% were guided at the hospital. Thus, it shows the need for measures that promote the awareness of health professionals about the importance of guidance as well as the scheduling of puerperal consultation, effectively effecting the referral and counter-referral system.

Conclusion

The present study showed the scarcity of research related to continuity of care from the perspective of postpartum women, which unveils a knowledge gap, requiring greater emphasis and concern with this theme, to improve the care of this population. It was possible to identify weaknesses in the postpartum care, both in relation to the guidelines provided as to the care issues offered in the hospital and in primary health care. Cesarean section was identified as a risk factor for hospital readmission. The mothers' perceived satisfaction was related to a continuous follow-up in the pregnancy-puerperal cycle. However, the findings show discontinuity of care, given the frequency of nonadherence to puerperal consultation. Although readiness for discharge has identified adequate rates, there are few studies in this area, since the RHDS instrument for postpartum women is validated in few countries. Transition studies of postpartum care were not found, which requires proposing new studies.

Acknowledgments

To the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ) for grants from the Institutional Program for Scientific Initiation Grants and the PQ Productivity Grant.

References

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    08 Sept 2023
  • Date of issue
    2023

History

  • Received
    08 Nov 2022
  • Accepted
    27 Mar 2023
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