Postpartum Clinical Assessments

This component of Focused-PPC followed the recommended clinical assessments by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and World Health Organization (WHO). In the Focused-PPC group, participants received the full range of recommended clinical assessments from midwives at 2 weeks and 6 weeks post-birth. These head-to-toe assessments included measures of vital signs,  evaluation of participants’ breasts, uterus, bladder, bowel, lochia, episiotomy, extremities, emotional state, cultural needs, pain, and labs/medication when necessary.

 

After the 6-week postpartum period, only vital signs were measured at each session until 12 months postpartum. These  included measures of blood pressure, temperature, respirations, heart rate, and weight  among Focused-PPC participants up to 12 months post-birth.

When first starting the study, nearly half of all Focused-PPC participants had high blood pressure. By 6 months, only a quarter still had high blood pressure, and by the end of the study that number decreased to only 13% of Focused-PPC participants.