Postnatal care

The quality of postnatal care provided to women and families in the first days and weeks after birth can have a significant impact on their experience of the transition to parenthood. First time parents often have very limited experience of the physical and emotional demands of their new roles and responsibilities which can be quite a challenge.

Research repeatedly shows more negative comments from service users in relation to hospital postnatal services than about any other aspect of maternity care (see related documents below). NCT believes that all parents should be able to access good quality postnatal support in their local community.

NCT supports the NICE guideline on postnatal care (applicable to England and Wales) that were published in July 2006.

The Scottish Woman Held Maternity Record is a single national unified handheld record for women during their maternity care, and it covers the postnatal period.

NCT provides postnatal support, to find out more, click here.

You may also be interested in NCT's reviews of evidence on the transition to parenthood, first published in NCT's professional development journal New Digest