2001 ANNUAL REPORT
Placing postpartum services in a continuum of care

Population Council researchers have assessed approaches to improving postpartum care since 1966 when the organization launched the International Postpartum Project. The concept of what types of services women should be offered in the postpartum period has broadened considerably since then.

“Postpartum services often have been focused exclusively on helping women adopt family planning methods,” explains John Townsend, director of the Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health program. “Satisfying unmet need for contraception is vital, but this single-minded approach can deflect attention from women’s other needs at this time, such as counseling and treatment related to reproductive tract infections, assistance with breastfeeding, and getting husbands involved as supportive partners.” 

Recent research conducted by the Frontiers program in the West Bank and Gaza highlights the importance of viewing postpartum services as one segment in a continuum of care. (The USAID-funded Frontiers program, led by the Population Council in collaboration with Family Health International and Tulane University, applies systematic research techniques to improve delivery of family planning and reproductive health services and influence related policies.) 

Because societies often value infant health more than women’s health, women are more likely to seek prenatal care than postpartum care or general health care for themselves. Frontiers research showed that the majority of Palestinian women receive antenatal care—the average woman makes five visits. In contrast, only 3 percent of women studied reported returning to clinics after giving birth to receive postpartum care. 

More than 40 percent of women who made postpartum follow-up visits to clinics accepted a family planning method at that time, but their other needs may not have been fully addressed. Only about half of the physicians interviewed in the West Bank and Gaza reported that they perform Pap smears for detecting cervical cancer or teach their patients how to conduct breast self-examinations.

“Pregnancy-related visits can and should serve as platforms from which to introduce and educate women about other crucial reproductive health services,” argues Laila Nawar, Council regional advisor in West Asia and North Africa.