Debra Hall

Date of Award

5-1-1998

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Nursing

Abstract

Early postpartum discharge 24-48 hours after delivery has become a current trend in the United States. There are numerous and substantive issues relating to this concept which affect not only hospital personnel, but more specifically new mothers and babies.

On the Ft. Peck Reservation in northeast Montana the standard of early discharge postpartum has been initiated. The purpose of this study was to identify postpartum/newbom education deficits among the population of postpartum women on the Ft. Peck Reservation and to compare and contrast these results between the Poplar and Wolf Point. MT. communities. Additionally, the identification of the resources used to obtain this education were identified. And, finally, barriers to the delivery of services as reported by the subjects were assessed.

Postpartum women over the age of nineteen were asked to participate in the study. Due to the limited number of deliveries, all postpartum women, including those who delivered up to 6 months prior to the start of the data collection period, were approached. Twenty women from each of the two representative communities were interviewed. Data was obtained through the use of a survey/interview which was developed by the researcher.

Results obtained included that the majority of the postpartum women interviewed were satisfied with the postpartum education that they received and felt that it was provided in a timely manner. The Poplar community women were statistically more satisfied with their educational experience than the women of the Wolf Point community. And, barriers to education were identified which included financial concerns, transportation problems, and lack of child care services. Suggestions for improvement to the educational services were also provided by the participants.

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