The Professional Practice of Midwives in Home-based Postnatal Care: A Literature Analysis

Background Due to the reduction of the length of stay in hospital, postnatal care today takes place primarily in the ambulant sector. Midwives provide the health care and support young families. This literature study examines home-based postnatal care from the perspectives of midwives with the aim of exploring how midwives provide postnatal care and what influencing factors exist. Method A systematic literature search was conducted. Studies that integrated the perceptions of midwives during their work in homebased postpartum care were included. A thematic analysis of the selected articles was undertaken. Results Besides monitoring the health and well-being of mother and child, the focus of postnatal care is on psychosocial aspects and on support and advice on issues concerning the new situation and structural changes in the family. However, midwives do not always feel sufficiently prepared for dealing with complex psychosocial issues and require extra knowledge and better access to information. Besides temporal limitations of midwives, continuity of care as well as different care approaches are also relevant. Discussion Home-based postnatal care constitutes complex professional procedures during an important period of life of women and their families. Besides ensuring continuity of care, appropriate knowledge resources and midwifery skills are required. Conclusion The development of theory-guided concepts, improved training and further training programmes as well as a clearly defined provider contract can support the professional behaviour patterns of midwives.