Grant: Project Grant

Childbirth is the most common reason for hospitalization in Canada. Although most mothers and newborns are healthy, they stay in hospital for an average of two days after birth. A main purpose of the hospital stay is to assist mothers with breastfeeding and newborn care. However, exclusive breastfeeding rates remain very low and many mothers report not feeling adequately prepared to care for their newborns. Therefore, there is a need to improve postnatal care. Our team designed the Montfort Postnatal Care at Home Program (MPCHP) that aims to be more effective in supporting mothers, and at less cost than the usual care. The MPCHP gives low-risk mother-baby pairs the option of early hospital discharge (at 6-24 hours after childbirth) and midwifery care at home during the first postnatal week. In April 2018 we received funding from Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to offer the MPCHP at Hôpital Montfort in Ottawa, Ontario. Therefore, we have an important opportunity to study whether the MPCHP increases the quality of postnatal care, including improving health outcomes (e.g. exclusive breastfeeding, parental readiness to care for newborn) and reducing the health care system costs. We will collect and compare data between mothers in the MPCHP and those who receive the usual care. We will also conduct interviews with parents and health care providers to learn from their experiences with the MPCHP. This research will provide evidence regarding the quality of an innovative program that moves postnatal care for healthy mother-baby pairs from hospital to home and extends it over seven days after childbirth. Findings will be highly relevant to Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long- Term Care and other policy makers, administrators and clinicians across Canada who endeavor to provide the right care, in the right place at the right time.