Postnatal care : current issues and future challenges

Internationally postnatal care varies in terms of who provides it, how long women receive care for, whether it is in hospital, the community or at home, the content and quality of care provided (National Audit Office, 2013). What is clear from the papers included in this issue, and our own experiences as researchers, is that women the world over report similar concerns and issues about their postnatal health, infant feeding needs and expectations. Certainly priorities will differ, depending on where women give birth and the model of care available to them. It is clearly not appropriate to compare needs of women giving birth in a country in Western Europe with those of a woman giving birth in a country in sub-Saharan Africa, or women giving birth in health systems with no routine midwifery care compared with systems where all women see a midwife. Nevertheless, we have been struck by the similarity of issues facing women and their families. In this commentary we draw on policy and research on postnatal care in the UK and Australia to highlight current issues and future challenges.