Abstract
Purpose
Postpartum care is an opportunity to provide essential follow-up care to people who have given birth, but inequalities in access by race and socioeconomic status (SES) are well-documented. The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth description of the barriers to postpartum care using a mixed-methods design.
Methods
Mixed method analyses using convergent design with three stages including (1) bivariate logistic regression of survey data representative of postpartum women in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, (2) thematic qualitative analyses of focus group interviews of survey participants, and (3) bivariate logistic regression and logistic regression meditation analyses using themes operationalized with survey data measures.
Results
In Kalamazoo county, 82.0% of women attended their postpartum visit. White women and women with higher SES were 2.84 (SE = 1.35, p < .001) and 5.73 (SE = 3.10, p < .001) times more likely to attend postpartum visits than women of color and those with lower SES. Qualitative analyses identified four common barriers: (1) misaligned goals for appointments, (2) time and scheduling of appointments, (3) prioritization of children, and (4) material resources and health insurance coverage. The quantitative analyses found mixed support for these barriers and found limited evidence that these barriers mediated the relationship between race or SES and postpartum attendance.
Conclusions for Practice
The qualitative findings identify barriers that are amenable to practice-level interventions including changes to scheduling procedures and employing patient-centered care. The quantitative findings further suggest that although inequalities in postpartum care are present, interventions on these barriers may benefit women regardless of race and SES.
Significance
What is Already Known on this Subject? Attendance at postpartum visits is lower for women of color and women with lower SES. Investigation of barriers to postpartum care is nascent, but prior research has shown common barriers include cost, transportation, scheduling, lack of provider continuity, and the fragmented nature of postpartum care in the U.S. Previous studies have tended to use only quantitative or qualitative data.
What this Study adds? This mixed-methods study combines quantitative analyses of a county-level representative survey with qualitative focus group data to identify and statistically test for barriers to attendance and engagement at postpartum visits.
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Data Availability
Study data is not available but data collection and protocol, consent documents are available upon request.
Code Availability
Available upon request.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the survey and focus group participants for their time and sharing their experiences with us. This work is funded by United Way of Battle Creek Kalamazoo Foundation and by Healthy Babies Healthy Start (Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services / HRSA Healthy Start) in partnership with Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine.
Funding
This work is funded by United Way of Battle Creek Kalamazoo Foundation and by Healthy Babies Healthy Start (Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services / HRSA Healthy Start) in partnership with Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine.
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The Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine Institutional Review Board approved this consented study (IRB# 2016 − 0127).
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Tierney, K.I., Pearce, N., Miller, E. et al. Barriers to Postpartum Care: A Mixed Methods Study of Midwestern Postpartum Women. Matern Child Health J 28, 93–103 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03800-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03800-7