Running Head: PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL LIT REVIEW

The Importance of Prenatal and Postnatal Care for Mothers Lit Review
Dominique C. Cain
1A Ruth

Authors Note
Dominique C. Cain, ALA student, Chapin High school
Dominique C. Cain is in the ALA program at Chapin High school
Correspondences concerning this article should address Dominique C. Cain, Chapin High school,
Dr. Ruths 1A class.

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The Importance of Prenatal and

Postnatal Care for Mothers Lit Review

Prenatal care, care for a pregnant woman during the time in the maternity cycle that
begins with conception and ends with the onset of labor, is widely accepted as the optimal
upkeep for women bearing an unborn baby. Without this type of care, many women in the world
could fall victim to dangerous health risks that plague undeveloped as well as developed
countries today, such as birth defects, pre-eclampsia, stillbirth, and many more complications
(March of Dimes, 2010). Much like prenatal care, postnatal care is just as important, which is
care for a woman after the maternity cycle has ended and the baby is out of the womb. The aim
of postnatal care is to not only ensure the immediate health of both mother and baby post birth, it
is also aimed at ensuring that parents are confident enough with going home and caring for a
newborn and it is the midwifes as well as the doctors role to facilitate in providing education to
make this happen without this optimal care infant mortality rates could sky rocket (LabSpace,
2011). The postnatal period that women have in hospital is really a rather short amount of time to
establish the essentials for looking after a newborn, such as initiating breastfeeding and learning
to read their babys different moods and needs and adjusting to caring for this helpless individual
while simultaneously helping the mother recover from labor, according to a survey done by the
Mayo Clinic (Mayo Clinic, 2012). For some women, giving birth may be the most joyous time of
their lives, but for others it could be a traumatic and terrifying experience, many are exhausted

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and these are the women that need the right support, advice and guidance. Without the proper
guidance many women could fall victim to the ongoing challenge we have in American today there isn't enough proper education about prenatal and postnatal care and to reduce newborn and
maternal mortality, essential postnatal care should be promoted and supported in policies and
integrated into more existing health programs.
According to the CIA the more developed a country is the less the infant mortality rates
are and vise versa - however since 2009 and on the United States has been ranked between 165
and 175 for infant morality rates out of 224 countries (CIA, 2013). Even the Bermuda's - which I
mind you is a less developed country - infant morality rates are much lower than the United
States, Bermuda sits at 2.27 deaths per 1000 births, whereas the U.S sits at 6.90 deaths per 1000
births (CIA, 2013) - though this number may seem small now, it could grow higher as less and
less mothers are informed as well as educated about pre and post natal care for their baby.
Another problem that affects infant morality rates is the fact that doctors aren't promoting
educational programs that educate mothers about the timeline of a baby's development
(Discovery Health, 2012) - many mothers try to rush their baby's through the early stages of his
or her development that is most essential to learning and sustaining wellness throughout their life
(Sines, 2012). For example, mothers should be greatly educated about one of the baby's most
important stage - which is the phase in which the baby has started to show signs of voluntary
age, however this doesn't happen until about 2 to 4 months post-pregnancy (Discovery Health,
2012). This could be for one of two reasons - number one price cost and age gap or number "the
reality check". The price cost and age gap theory comes from the idea that the "more older, and
mature a women was, the more pre and post natal care she got" (Martin, 2011). Economically
this theory sounds great - usually the older someone is the better job they have, because they've

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spent years educating themselves as well as planning for a family. However, logically speaking,
this theory just doesn't hold out - the older doesn't always means the wiser and richer. A wise
man once said "Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went
before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it" (Orwell) - and mind George Orwell was in
his twenties when is came up with that quote, which isn't such as wise age to many. Nevertheless,
the second theory is based upon that the idea that mothers dream what there baby should be
doing, rather than actually understanding why their baby is doing the exact opposite (Mayo
Clinic, 2012). For example, Jocelyn has a baby, she thinks that little Johnny will sleep through
the night after just a week or so, and gurgles happily while she runs errands and only fusses when
he's hungry. What Jocelyn doesn't know is that her dream, is just that a dream - the reality of
having a baby is much tiresome and thicker in stress than the dreams mother's try to wrap
themselves in. The actual reality of having a baby is that their favorite playtime is after 2 a.m., in
which they want to feed, and stay up. Crankiness peaks when the mother is out and about, as
well as when she least expects it - and the crying... it never stops (Mayo Clinic, 2012). In this
scenario, or any of this kind, it would be a proper time for the mother to contact her OBGYN or
the baby's pediatric doctor so that she can get educated in postnatal care. For example, many
mothers think that when a baby is crying he or she either wants to eat, sleep, or their wet however, those aren't the only signs. Baby's not only cry when they are sleep, hungry, or wet, but
also when they're lonely(attention, or cuddling the baby helps), had enough(too much noise,
movement or visual stimulation might drive your baby to tears - moving to a calmer environment
or white noise, such as ocean waves, or soft music, helps the baby relax), or wants to simply
move(changing position or simply rocking the baby calms them down - keeping precautions in

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mind, one wouldn't want to throw a newborn in the air as one would play with a baby who is of a
year) (Mayo Clinic, 2012).
Today, mothers and their newborn babies are at highest risk of dying during the early
neonatal period, especially in the first 24 hours following birth and over the first week of after
delivery (March of Dimes, 2010). 45 to 50% of the mothers and newborns who die, do so in the
first 24 hours after birth, and 65 to 75% of the maternal and neonatal deaths occur within one
week of birth (Lab Space, 2011). This is compelling evidence to provide optimum and integrated
maternal and newborn care during the first few days after delivery. For some life-threatening
maternal and newborn conditions, effective postnatal care is either given in the first few hours
and days, or it will happen too late. The earlier these clinical conditions are detected, the more
effectively they can be managed; the quicker they are referred for specialized treatment, the
better the outcomes will be - unfortunately, most of these interventions are highly timedependent in order to be effective (Sines, 2012). So this is why doctors, midwifes, and the others
responsible for the mother's and baby's wellness must educate not only mothers, but the public
about pre and post natal care. Overall, neonatal (pre and post) care is likewise necessary to
ensure that no complications will, or have developed in the woman before and after childbirth.
This may include a more costly regiment for this type of holistic care that not only treats physical
wellness such as health, contraception, diet, etc. but emotional wellness such as postnatal
depression, family planning, and so on. However, the need for such an operation is great - and to
sit and watch as a choice that could change the world by veering it off the wrong side of the rode
isn't being stop, hurts more than one could ever know.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
CIA Site Redirect Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook: INFANT MORTALITY
RATE. Retrieved
5,
2013,
from
http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/fields/2091.html

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Discovery Health . Child Development Timeline. Retrieved September 1, 2013, from

http://health.howstuffworks.com/pregnancy-and-parenting/baby-health/newborndevelopment/child-development-timeline.htm
Discovery Health . INFANT DEVELOPMENT AND TOXINS. Retrieved September 3, 2013, from
http://health.howstuffworks.com/pregnancy-and-parenting/baby-health/newborndevelopment/infant-development-and-toxins.html
(2011, ). LabSpace - The Open University. 1.1 Why is effective postnatal care so important? Postnatal Care HEAT Module - LabSpace - The Open University. Retrieved September 2, 2013,
from http://labspace.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=452790&section=1.3
(2011, ). LabSpace - The Open University. 1.2 When do most mothers and newborns die in the
postnatal period? - Postnatal Care HEAT Module - LabSpace - The Open University. Retrieved
2, 2013, from http://labspace.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=452790&section=1.4
(2010, ). Home | March of Dimes. Neonatal death . Retrieved 5, 2013, from
http://www.marchofdimes.com/loss/neonatal-death.aspx
Martin, J., Hamilton, B., & Sutton, P. (2011, ). Maternal and Child Health. Prenatal Care Child
Health
USA
2011. Retrieved
September
5,
2013,
from
http://mchb.hrsa.gov/chusa11/hsfu/pages/312pc.html
(2012, 16). Mayo Clinic. Crying baby: What to do when your newborn cries MayoClinic.com. Retrieved September 5, 2013, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthybaby/PR00037
(2011, 27). Mayo Clinic. Pacifiers: Are they good for your baby? - MayoClinic.com. Retrieved
September 5, 2013, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pacifiers/PR00067
Sines, E., Syed, U., Wall, S., & Worley, H. (2012, January). Postnatal Care: A Critical
Opportunity to Save Mothers and Newborns. Save the Children: POPULATION REFERENCE
BUREAU. Retrieved from http://www.prb.org/pdf07/snl_pncbrieffinal.pdf