Article features Kirstin Leitner, MD, Sindhu Srinivas, MD, MSCE, and Elizabeth Howell, MD, MPP.
Christina Hernandez Sherwood for Penn Medicine’s Service in Action site: “New mothers and their babies typically leave the cocoon-like environment of the hospital maternity floor within a few days of delivery. Their discharge marks the end of a particularly intense nine months of medical support: from the monthly, then biweekly, then weekly obstetric exams during pregnancy to the 24/7 access to nurses in the hospital. Once they return home after giving birth, most new parents will not be seen by a medical professional for the next month and a half, until the typical six-week postpartum appointment with their obstetrician.
“But for the unlucky few, early postpartum problems can quickly develop into much more serious complications.”