Access to High-Quality Postpartum Care

The Jacobs Institute of Women's Health will convene an Expert Panel on Access to High-Quality Postpartum Care, which will review existing guidelines that promote access to high-quality postpartum care, identify gaps, and recommend next steps to address these gaps. The new initiative was funded by The Commonwealth Fund.

The panel (members listed here) brings together leading clinicians, researchers, policy leaders, advocates and other experts to address a persistent national challenge — that while postpartum coverage has grown, especially in Medicaid, the field still lacks a cohesive and consistently applied recommended standard of care. Building on prior research examining postpartum care in Medicaid managed care, the expert panel will:

• Review existing postpartum care guidelines, standards and best practices across professional bodies, clinical specialties and federal and state agencies

• Assess the evidence base supporting these recommendations

• Identify gaps in current postpartum standards of care

• Recommend areas for future guideline development or revision

In addition to convening the panel, GW researchers will develop a comprehensive, publicly available repository of postpartum guidelines, standards and best practices identified through the panel’s work.