Focused-PPC: A Group Postpartum Care Model Improves Outcomes for Women in Ghana

Joyce Adams
Assistant Professor of the Practice
Eck Institute for Global Health
Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame

Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest rate of maternal deaths and accounts for 70% of global maternal mortality. Although most maternal deaths occur during the postpartum period (after childbirth), it receives much less attention in developing countries. Postpartum care enables healthcare providers to identify and treat complications promptly, offer help with a wide range of health and social needs, and encourage mothers to adopt evidenced-based postpartum practices at home. In many settings in Sub-Saharan Africa, quality postpartum care, education, and support for the mother are often the missing components of postnatal care delivery, which is heavily baby focused. In this talk, Adams will discuss the development of Focused-PPC, an innovative integrated group postpartum care, education, and support model for postpartum women up to one year after delivery, and share results from our trial of the Focused-PPC model of care.