{
  "release_id": "fc5a600ec7387e71",
  "id": "maternal:care-pathway-postnatal-contacts",
  "owner": "maternal",
  "kind": "care_pathway",
  "slug": "care-pathway-postnatal-contacts",
  "name": "Care pathway: postnatal contacts in the first six weeks",
  "aliases": [],
  "atlases": [
    "maternal"
  ],
  "summary_plain": "The steps an international guideline sets out for the first six weeks after birth for a healthy woman and baby: at least 24 hours of care in the facility after a facility birth, checks of the woman soon after birth, a set of checks before going home, then at least three more contacts, with home visits in the first week where possible.",
  "summary_technical": "Written as steps from Recommendations 44, 45, 1, 46, 48 and 25 of the 2022 international postnatal guideline recorded in this atlas; each step cites the claim that records the recommendation. It follows the guideline's wording for healthy women and newborns and sets no schedule for those with complications. The guideline notes that the evidence for more frequent contacts was insufficient and that the number, timing and content of contacts should be tailored to need.",
  "editorial_state": "draft",
  "last_substantive_edit": "2026-10-15",
  "last_evidence_check": "2026-10-15",
  "next_review_due": null,
  "identifiers": [],
  "navigation": {
    "maternal": {
      "life-stage": [
        "postpartum",
        "newborn"
      ],
      "care-area": [
        "postpartum-recovery"
      ]
    }
  },
  "payload": {
    "applicability": "maternal:ctx-who-2022-healthy-women-and-newborns-postnatal",
    "steps": [
      {
        "label": "Birth in a health facility: stay for postnatal care",
        "description": "Care in the facility for 24 hours or more after a vaginal birth. For caesarean birth the guideline gave no minimum time and noted that discharge within 24 hours made adverse maternal and newborn outcomes more likely and lowered breastfeeding at six weeks.",
        "branch_condition": "Birth in a health facility",
        "claims": [
          "maternal:claim-who-2022-rec-44-minimum-four-contacts",
          "maternal:claim-who-2022-rec-45-24-hours-in-facility"
        ]
      },
      {
        "label": "First 24 hours: regular checks of the woman",
        "description": "Bleeding, uterine tone, fundal height, temperature and pulse, starting in the first hour; blood pressure soon after birth and again within 6 hours if normal; urine void documented within 6 hours.",
        "branch_condition": null,
        "claims": [
          "maternal:claim-who-2022-rec-1-assessment-of-the-woman"
        ]
      },
      {
        "label": "Before leaving the facility: discharge criteria",
        "description": "Assess physical and emotional well-being, the skills and confidence to care for herself and the newborn, and the home environment.",
        "branch_condition": null,
        "claims": [
          "maternal:claim-who-2022-rec-46-criteria-before-discharge"
        ]
      },
      {
        "label": "Birth at home: first contact within 24 hours",
        "description": "The first postnatal contact should come as early as possible, within the first day.",
        "branch_condition": "Birth at home",
        "claims": [
          "maternal:claim-who-2022-rec-44-minimum-four-contacts"
        ]
      },
      {
        "label": "Three more contacts",
        "description": "At 48 to 72 hours, at 7 to 14 days and in week six. Home visits in the first week are recommended; where they cannot be done or are not preferred, outpatient contacts are.",
        "branch_condition": null,
        "claims": [
          "maternal:claim-who-2022-rec-44-minimum-four-contacts",
          "maternal:claim-who-2022-rec-48-home-visits"
        ]
      },
      {
        "label": "At each contact: check the woman and look for danger signs in the newborn",
        "description": "Ask about general well-being and the topics the guideline lists; assess the newborn for the listed danger signs and refer if any is present.",
        "branch_condition": null,
        "claims": [
          "maternal:claim-who-2022-rec-1-assessment-of-the-woman",
          "maternal:claim-who-2022-rec-25-newborn-danger-signs"
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "content_digest": "861e1017e30c345e294e83ffa165872b13346bd59198b7d5b1055eb6a9b4b322",
  "review": {
    "content_digest": "861e1017e30c345e294e83ffa165872b13346bd59198b7d5b1055eb6a9b4b322",
    "current": [],
    "conflicting": [],
    "stale": [],
    "inactive": []
  },
  "claims": [],
  "decisions": [],
  "milestones": [],
  "relationships": {
    "outgoing": [
      {
        "predicate": "related_to",
        "label": "Steps from the 2022 contact schedule recorded on the postnatal care page",
        "clinical_claim_not_fact": false,
        "family": "navigation",
        "other_entity_id": "maternal:postnatal-care",
        "other_entity_in_atlas": true,
        "claim_id": null,
        "evidence": null,
        "primary": false,
        "role": null,
        "valid_from": null,
        "valid_to": null
      }
    ],
    "incoming": []
  },
  "page_path": "care-pathways/care-pathway-postnatal-contacts/",
  "context_path": "api/v1/context/maternal--care-pathway-postnatal-contacts.md"
}