A Multicentre Assessment of Postpartum Recovery Using the STanford Obstetric Recovery checKlist (STORK)

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Maternal Health
• Postpartum Care

Background:

• Postpartum recovery is not well understood in outpatient settings.
• Delivery mode and parity significantly influence the postpartum experience.
• The STanford Obstetric Recovery checKlist (STORK) is a validated tool for assessing recovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize postpartum recovery trajectories.
• To compare recovery based on delivery mode (vaginal, cesarean, operative vaginal).
• To evaluate recovery differences between first-time (primiparous) and subsequent (multiparous) mothers.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 498 English-speaking adults from three US academic centers.
• Collected demographic and clinical data, including delivery mode and parity.
• Administered the 47-item STORK checklist at 2, 6, and 12 weeks postpartum.

Main Results:

• Total STORK scores, physical health, and sleep/fatigue improved significantly by 12 weeks postpartum across all delivery modes.
• Mental health and motherhood experience scores improved up to 6 weeks postpartum.
• Physical recovery was fastest after spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) and slowest after operative vaginal delivery (OVD) in the early postpartum period. Multiparous women showed better recovery than primiparous women up to 6 weeks.

Conclusions:

• Postpartum recovery is a prolonged process extending to 12 weeks postpartum.
• Recovery patterns vary significantly based on delivery mode and parity.
• Further research is needed to define clinically significant recovery differences for targeted interventions.