Postpartum home visits: infant outcomes

Early postpartum discharge of mothers and infants has increased as health care providers and payers attempt to control health care cost. Questions regarding patient safety have been raised. Literature supports the safety of early discharge when providers adhere to strict discharge guidelines and when clients comply with home follow-up. Previous studies calculated hospital readmission rates, but few examined other outcomes or characteristics. The purposes of this descriptive study were to examine outcome data for infant participants in a postpartum home visit program and to explore factors that may influence hospital readmissions for infants. Using an audit tool with established reliability and validity, a convenience sample of 199 infant medical records was reviewed for demographic information, characteristics, and outcomes. The hospital readmission rate for all infants within 3 weeks of discharge was comparable to other studies; however, the rate for only early discharge infants was higher than the rate reported in other studies. The study of postdelivery outcomes for infants provides additional insight into the issue of early discharge and may reflect the significance of postpartum follow-up care and education.