Abstract

Pregnancy is a physiologic event that can be experienced by every woman in her childbearing years. Although the person experiencing pregnancy physiologically is a woman, this event affects others close to the pregnant woman. In addition to the physiologic changes that occur during pregnancy the pregnant woman, her husband and other family members experience many psychological and social changes and feel a need to adapt to these changes. For this reason the period of pregnancy can be a crisis period for the woman and her family. Mothers who give birth in Turkey are generally discharged 24 hours later from the hospital. This period postpartum is not enough time to support the mother's adaptation to her new condition. The first day after delivery the care that the mother, who is in the middle of deep interactions with health care personnel, receives from her family as well as health care personnel, especially the nurses, is very important in helping her adapt to the postpartum period. Nurses/midwives are located in primary care clinics and prenatal and postpartum clinics together with mothers. Problems with adaptation in the postpartum period occur when the mothers leave the health care institution (4-6 weeks postpartum). Mothers are at home in this period and there is a possibility that they may miss symptoms and the possibility of making an early diagnosis. For this reason, it is important for mothers to be evaluated for risk factors in the postpartum period and for necessary precautions to be made in the early period.

Key words: Postpartum period, adaptation, motherhood, nursing

Article Language: Turkish English