title: [Child protection from the beginning. Need for early peripartum support - clinical experiences].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  So called early interventions aim to promote healthy development and welfare of children and to prevent child maltreatment. For this purpose, psychosocial support measures offered during the perinatal phase are regarded to be highly promising. As part of a project located at an academic hospital, the significance of such early interventions during obstetric care was to be elicited from the clinicians' view.
  
  
  METHODS
  Semi-structured interviews with 12 health care professionals from the maternity hospital unit (n = 8 nurses, n = 3 midwifes, n = 1 medical doctor).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four main categories were identified: i) patient situations indicating need for early psychosocial support (precarious living circumstances, complicated pregnancy, and maternal psychiatric disorders), ii) detection of patients in need of this kind of support, iii) reacting to presumed or confirmed need for early psychosocial support, and iv) context factors impacting on clinicians' assessment and activities. The interviews revealed some room for improvement, e.g. with respect to identifying patients in need for early psychosocial support, communicating with them, and collaborating with communal health care and welfare institutions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the clinicians' view, early psychosocial interventions appear to have an important role in hospital obstetric care. Based on results from this study, local care processes were adapted.
authors.affiliation: Sektion für Forschung und Lehre in der Pflege am Insitut für Sozialmedizin, Universität zu Lübeck. Anne.Junghans@uk-sh.de
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Junghans
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Prüssmann
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Balzer
mesh_terms: D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment