Postpartum Visit Timing and the Effect on Visit Attendance

Maternal mortality in the United States is currently at a record high of 17 deaths per 100,000 live births and the majority of pregnancy related deaths occur in the postpartum period due to complications from chronic disease exacerbation, pregnancy-related hypertension, or psychiatric conditions that lead to suicide. Optimal postpartum care would reduce mortality risk, but numerous studies have demonstrated current care is inadequate. Up to 40% of women do not attend their postpartum visit at 4-6 weeks after delivery and the 15-minute visit is too short to achieve the comprehensive goals that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) sets for this visit: a full assessment of physical, social, and psychological well-being. In addressing the current gap between optimal and actual care, ACOG recently recommended that practitioners shift from the standard, single six-week postpartum visit to two postpartum visits, the first within three weeks of delivery. While this change is intended to address current sub-optimal outcomes, the effects of this change are entirely unknown.

The long term goal of our program is to improve postpartum care for women in Rhode Island. The primary objective of this project is to determine if the ACOG proposed additional postpartum visit within three weeks of delivery improves attendance to postpartum appointments compared to routine postpartum care. Additionally, we intend to examine whether having two scheduled postpartum visits (one within three weeks and the other at the standard 4-6 week postpartum time point) which we describe as "early and often" postpartum care-improves patient knowledge, satisfaction and trust in clinicians compared to routine care as well as explore patient preferences for postpartum care. Our central hypothesis is that early and often postpartum care will lead to improved patient visit attendance compared to routine care.