ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2025
Critical signs and symptoms for self-assessment in the immediate postnatal period: an international Systematic Scoping Review and Delphi consensus study.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Authors Response: Healthcare-Seeking Behaviour for Obstetric Complications in Ethiopia: A Multilevel Mixed-Effects Analysis.Health services insights · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEvery two minutes a woman dies from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Most maternal deaths occur within the first 24 hours following birth, highlighting the importance of immediate postnatal care (iPNC). Self-care strategies are increasingly being employed to promote women-centred, continuous care provision. Despite international calls for development of strategies promoting self-care, none have been developed for self-monitoring in the immediate postnatal period. Fundamental to the development of a self-monitoring strategy, is an understanding of which signs and symptoms are predictive of maternal morbidity and mortality and can be easily assessed by mothers and birth companions, in health facilities, without the need for equipment. The objective of this study was to develop and achieve international consensus on the key signs and symptoms.
methodsA multi-step approach involving a systematic scoping review, two- round Delphi Survey, and expert consensus was employed to identify key signs and symptoms that can be self- assessed and predict morbidity and mortality in the immediate postnatal period.
resultsA comprehensive list of 351 key signs and symptoms was identified from 44 clinical practice guidelines. Subsequently, 134 signs and symptoms were reviewed by Delphi respondents and international expert consensus was achieved for 19 key signs and symptoms across seven condition categories. The signs that were considered both important and able to be self-assessed by mothers and birth companions in the first 24 hours following birth included change in consciousness, seizure, severe headache, persistent visual impairment, urinary incontinence, chest pain, shortness of breath, severe pallor, fast heartbeat, rejection of baby, suicidal/infanticidal, fever, heavy blood loss, soft flabby uterus, unable to urinate easily, foul smelling discharge, rigors, syncope/dizziness, abnormal coloured urine.
conclusionThis study identified key signs and symptoms which can be easily assessed by mothers and birth companions in the immediate postnatal period to identify those most at risk of morbidity and mortality. Further work is needed to validate this screening tool, and adapt it regionally and nationally.
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