Women’s Utilisation, Experiences and Satisfaction with Postnatal Follow-up Care: Systematic literature review

Postnatal follow-up care is reported to be the ‘underutilised’ aspect of the maternity care continuum. This review explores women’s utilisation of early and late postnatal follow-up and their experiences and satisfaction with it. Five online databases were searched for English or Arabic articles published between 2011 and 2021. Methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool; the Andersen healthcare utilisation model was the framework for data analysis. A total of 19 articles met all inclusion criteria. Utilisation facilitators included complications, travel distance, knowledge of the importance for attending and being offered a telephone call and home visit or clinic visit as options for follow-up. Impediments included lack of perceived need and not being provided with information about postnatal care. Comprehensive discussions with and examination by health providers were reported as positive experiences and influenced repeat utilisation. Dissatisfaction was associated with inconsistent information provided by health providers.