Postpartum care content and delivery throughout the African continent: An integrative review.
Ashley Gresh, Megan Cohen, Jean Anderson and 1 others
PMID 33740519WHAT IT FOUND
Postpartum care in African studies often covered counseling and family planning, but no study included all WHO recommended components.
Gaps included non-communicable disease care, intimate partner violence screening, and mental health assessment.
Key findings
01Preventive care and counseling was addressed in 10 studies, and family planning was directly addressed in 8 studies.
02The 12 included studies did not provide a complete WHO postpartum care package.
03Non-communicable disease care and intimate partner violence screening were not addressed, and mental health was addressed in only 3 studies with no specific postpartum depression screening.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review included studies from only a subset of African countries, so it may not represent postpartum care across the continent. The included studies used different definitions and timing of postpartum care, making direct comparison difficult. Only English peer-reviewed studies were included, so relevant grey literature and non-English reports may be missing. The review described care content and delivery models, but it did not test whether any package improved maternal or infant outcomes.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the gaps as evidence that adding mental health, intimate partner violence screening or non-communicable disease care improves outcomes. The review describes missing content, not tested interventions.