Key questions

Patients: What did you know about perinatal mood disorders? What guidance was provided prenatally? In the hospital? By pediatric and maternity providers?

If you were screened for depression with a questionnaire, how was it explained / put in context? If you screened positive or had symptoms, what care was offered? If medications were prescribed, how were you counseled? Did you fill your prescription? Start therapy? If a referral was made, was it timely? Did you keep your appointment? Why / why not? What community resources were provided?

For providers: What is your screening practice? What training do you have on managing perinatal depression? What is your “comfort zone” on this topic? To whom do you refer? What resources do you have within your practice? What would you like?

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Key questions

Patients: What aspects of recovery were most challenging for you? What do you wish you’d been told before birth? What questions did you have that your health providers unable to answer? What did your maternity provider say about weight gain during pregnancy & weight loss postpartum? What advice was helpful? What was not? What were your expectations for postpartum weight loss? What would be helpful to achieving those expectations? What do you consider “successful” postpartum weight loss?

Providers: What do you know about prevalence and management about common postpartum complications? What would you like to know and understand? What recommendations do you consider to be evidence-based? What concerns are unaddressed or poorly studied, and what research is needed to determine appropriate treatment? How do you discuss weight with your maternity patients? What educational materials do you offer? Have you been trained in motivational interviewing? Have staff members? Are there resources in your community to which you refer mothers?

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Key questions

Patients: What prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum support did you find helpful? How do you define successful breast-feeding? What clinical services and support were unhelpful? When you needed help, was it easy to access? Did they receive consistent advice and messaging? What problems were particularly challenging?

Providers: What training have you had regarding management of common breastfeeding challenges? What do you feel comfortable managing? What’s outside your scope? What evidence do you rely on to address your patients’ breastfeeding challenges? What is not known?

The post Infant Feeding appeared first on UNC Collaborative for Maternal & Infant Health.

Key questions

Patients: What did you hear about sleep and fatigue during pregnancy? What advice did you get during your birth hospitalization? After discharge? From your provider? From your infant’s provider? From friends and family? What resources were helpful and why? What information would have made the first 12 weeks easier for you?

Providers: What guidance do you provide for families about sleep and fatigue? How do you discuss shared sleep surfaces? How do you advise mothers to cope with fatigue? What evidence do you use to inform this advice? Are there educational materials that you recommend?

The post Sleep and Fatigue appeared first on UNC Collaborative for Maternal & Infant Health.

Key questions

Patients: What guidance did you receive about sexuality, contraception and birth spacing during pregnancy? What was helpful? Not helpful? When was guidance provided? What understanding did you have about the methods that were recommended? How were these issues discussed with you during your maternity hospitalization? What did you hear about the effects of contraceptive methods on your sexuality? On breastfeeding? What did you hear about the effects of breastfeeding on pregnancy risk?

Providers: What training and experience do you have addressing sexuality, birth spacing, and contraception with your patients? How do you start these conversations? When do you bring up these topics? What are barriers to counseling about these topics and providing effective care for your patients? What tools would improve the care you provide? What skills would you like to develop / practice?

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