アブストラクト | OBJECTIVE: To describe women's uptake of postnatal checks and primary care consultations in the year following childbirth. DESIGN: Observational cohort study using electronic health records. SETTING: UK primary care. PARTICIPANTS: Women aged 16-49 years who had given birth to a single live infant recorded in The Health Improvement Network (THIN) primary care database in 2006-2016. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Postnatal checks and direct consultations in the year following childbirth. RESULTS: We examined 1 427 710 consultations in 309 573 women who gave birth to 241 662 children in 2006-2016. Of these women, 78.7% (243 516) had a consultation at the time of the postnatal check, but only 56.2% (174 061) had a structured postnatal check documented. Teenage women (aged 16-19 years) were 12% less likely to have a postnatal check compared with those aged 30-35 years (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.88, 95% CI 0.85 to 0.91) and those living in the most deprived versus least deprived areas were 10% less likely (IRR 0.90, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.92). Women consulted on average 4.8 times per woman per year and 293 049 women (94.7%) had at least one direct consultation in the year after childbirth. Consultation rates were higher for those with a caesarean delivery (7.7 per woman per year, 95% CI 7.7 to 7.8). Consultation rates peaked during weeks 5-10 following birth (11.8 consultations/100 women) coinciding with the postnatal check. CONCLUSIONS: Two in 10 women did not have a consultation at the time of the postnatal check and four in 10 women have no record of receiving a structured postnatal check within the first 10 weeks after giving birth. Teenagers and those from the most deprived areas are among the least likely to have a check. We estimate up to 350 400 women per year in the UK may be missing these opportunities for timely health promotion and to have important health needs identified following childbirth. |
ジャーナル名 | BMJ open |
Pubmed追加日 | 2020/11/25 |
投稿者 | Smith, Holly Christina; Saxena, Sonia; Petersen, Irene |
組織名 | Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London,;London, UK holly.dorning.18@ucl.ac.uk.;School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.;London, UK. |
Pubmed リンク | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33229397/ |