The first 100 days after childbirth: cross-sectional study of maternal clinical events and health needs from primary care

Background The first 100 days after childbirth are important for women recovering from pregnancy and birth. Aim To describe the most common clinical events or health needs documented in women’s primary care records in the first 100 days after childbirth. Design and setting Cross-sectional study using electronic health records from UK primary care data. Method Primary care records were examined from childbirth up to 100 days after childbirth for women aged 16–49 years who had given birth to a single live infant between 2006 and 2016 using IQVIA Medical Research Data. The most common clinical events or health needs based on documented symptoms, diagnoses, and medications were identified. How these varied by patient characteristic was explored. Results In total, 925 712 contacts were identified during the 100 days following 309 573 births. Women were most likely to use primary care to have a postnatal visit or check (60.6%, n = 187 455), for monitoring (such as a blood pressure reading) (49.9%, n = 154 328), and to access contraception (49.7%, n = 153 876). Younger women were more likely to have contacts for preventive care compared with older women, but were less likely to have contacts for ongoing mental and physical symptoms or conditions and pre-existing conditions. The highest peak in contacts occurred 42 days after birth, and related to a postnatal check or visit, monitoring a patient, and recording lifestyle factors (such as smoking status). Conclusion Primary care services should seek to match the needs of new mothers, taking account of a high volume of contacts, for a broad range of planned and responsive care following childbirth.