title: Pilot study: quality of life assessment of postnatal fatigue and other physical morbidity.
abstract: Postnatal morbidity is increasingly recognized, but standard assessments may not capture what is most important to the woman with such morbidity in terms of her quality of life. The Mother-Generated Index (MGI) is a proposed postnatal quality-of-life instrument which allows the mother to determine both content and scoring. In this pilot study we found that although a degree of psychological and physical morbidity (including tiredness) is common, and may be very significant, for most women these factors are low-grade, and other aspects of their lives are more important. A quality-of-life approach allows the mother to determine her own postnatal assessment, and encourages practitioners to view her more holistically.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Dundee, Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland, UK. a.g.symon@snm.dundee.ac.uk
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Symon
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Glazener
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ruta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires