title: Successful early postpartum support linked to management, informational, and relational continuity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to explore ways in which parents experience support from health professionals in the early postpartum period and understand how parenting support is related to management, informational, and relational continuity.
  
  
  METHODS
  a qualitative study consisting of focus group interviews followed by deductive content analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  a large city in Sweden; 18 women and 16 men.
  
  
  RESULTS
  study participants reported that parenting support occurs by providing consistent advice; indicating who to ask when care questions arise; enabling access to the care system when needs surface; providing sufficient information about self-management for mother or baby; involving parents in discharge planning; distributing information that empowers parents; enabling team/clinical care consistency; and appointing persons in the care system who can foster parents׳ feelings of trust--in short: by enabling management, informational, and relational continuity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  care continuity experiences lead to perceived parenting support in the early postpartum period. Effective health care organisations within the postpartum care system must embody these types of continuity: management, informational, and relational. There is a need for researchers to design tools for measuring continuity and for policymakers to enable coherence and co-ordination among professionals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  identify parents׳ needs so that health professionals can plan for parents׳ first few weeks at home and ensure that parents get access to appropriate care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Women׳s and Children׳s Health, Division of Reproductive Health, Karolinska Institutet, Retsius väg 13 A, SE:17177 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: mia.barimani@ki.se.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barimani
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Family and Community Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vikström
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D000068101:Maternal-Child Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D008880:Midwifery; D011181:Postnatal Care; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Care continuity; Early postpartum period; Focus group study; Parenting support