A qualitative study of first time mothers' experiences of postnatal social support from health professionals in England.
Jenny McLeish, Merryl Harvey, Maggie Redshaw and 1 others
PMID 33153952WHAT IT FOUND
First-time mothers said professional praise, normalising answers and clear postnatal information helped them feel competent.
Conflicting advice, criticism, rushed care and ward rules that blocked partners undermined them.
Key findings
01Mothers valued praise and reassurance from professionals, especially when it confirmed they were doing things correctly and that their questions were normal.
02Conflicting information from different professionals made advice feel unreliable and eroded confidence.
03Mothers wanted proactive, concise information about common feeding, sleep and crying problems before they arose.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Some initial demographic diversity was lost after the pregnancy interviews, so the postnatal sample was older, less ethnically diverse and less likely to live in disadvantaged areas than the original sample. The study describes experiences and perceptions, so it cannot show that any type of support caused better maternal wellbeing. Mothers were interviewed when babies were 7 to 15 weeks old, so accounts of immediate postnatal care were retrospective. The paper reports themes from a small purposive sample in England, so it may not apply to other settings or populations.
Declared interests
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research Policy Research Programme through the Policy Research Unit in Maternal and Neonatal Health and Care. The funders had no role in the study. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that praise, information or partner accommodation improves maternal mental health. The study reports mothers' experiences, not tested outcomes or effectiveness.