Patient-centred postpartum care provision: virtual delivery, tiered escalation, and tensions between efficiency, preference, and clinical concern.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Good quality postnatal care is of key importance for maternal and infant health. During the pandemic, healthcare services were reconfigured with increased virtual delivery, reducing infection transmission risk for pregnant women, new mothers, newborn babies, and healthcare workers. Post-pandemic, this shift of maternity care from face-to-face towards virtual care provision has persisted. Whilst some have extolled this trend, the evidence is mixed, both for clinical outcomes and for patient perceptions and experiences. We sought to explore the experiences and perceptions of women affected by these changes, to inform ongoing maternity services development.

Methods

This study reports responses of women participating in the COVID Symptom Study Biobank, drawn from the

SUBMITTER: Silverio SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12931006 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature