postpartum education offers a crucial opportunity to put interventions with patients and their families. The ultimate goal of this education is avoiding major complications and ensuring a smooth transition home for the new mother and her baby. postpartum education, Mahoney says. To personalize the message effectively, the patient and her family must be understood from their cultural and social backgrounds, as well as from the community to which they belong. mother and her significant others needs to develop and share the in- formation in a way that is accessible to all the members who need to be reached--the patient, and the persons in her family who may play a role in caring for the new baby or the mom when she returns home. All of this information, says Mahoney, needs to be delivered in a way that is meaningful and useful to the patient and is altered by the feedback the patient and her family give the educator. ing the health of the mother and baby. Information must be able to be updated as new evidence in best practices requires. It must also change with the health care needs of the medical center's regional population and be culturally appropriate for that population. be delivered one-on-one, carefully following several steps: Have the information in the language the patient understands. they can review them at home. goal of complication avoidance is met, since families not only will receive the information vital to maternal and newborn care, but they will be able to share that information effectively with the others who need it, she says. providers delivering educational messages need to be able to evaluate patient responses to discharge instructions, Mahoney says: Is the patient understanding the important messages and information you are trying to relate? It is critical to help provide guidance to the new parents in teaching them how to take care of this new person. make it easier to identify what is wrong--or may be wrong--with her baby or herself, as well as to empower the women to always tell the provider about problems or concerns they may have. Patients and family members should clearly understand when to call the doctor's office and what to call about, as well the language they need to use when they call (e.g., "I'm very concerned..."). Health care providers, in turn, have the responsibility to be welcoming when patients or family call, and respond to those concerns. and ensuring that this education is reaching patients and their family is vital in preventing readmissions and helping ensure maternal child safety. |