'We feel like one, they see us as two': new parents' discontent with postnatal care.

OBJECTIVE

postnatal care has gone through remarkable changes, such as reducing the length of hospital stay and increasing the parents' responsibility. Focusing on dissatisfaction, this study describes how new parents experience postpartum care.

DESIGN

cross-sectional, population-based study, based on questionnaires.

PARTICIPANTS

1474 parents.

MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS

the questionnaires, posted six months after childbirth, addressed how parents experienced postnatal care. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics and content analysis.

KEY CONCLUSIONS

a main finding was that the close emotional attachment between the parents was not always supported by staff. The father was treated as an outsider and the care was described as 'a woman's world'. The asymmetric encounter between parents and staff was pronounced with respect to decision-making, and some designated this as 'paternalism'. A great deal of the discontent with health care may be due to organisational failure, and the postnatal care should be more prioritised in the health-care organisation.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

midwives should acknowledge that parents, irrespective of gender, should have equal opportunities as parents during postpartum care as parenting is a joint project.