Birth-Parent Perspectives on Safety and Trust in Inpatient Postpartum Health Care

Abstract

The authors explore inpatient postpartum safety and trust from the perspectives of birth-parents, who revealed that these concepts extend beyond physical health and survival to emotional well-being, autonomy, communication, and shared decision making. Drawing from experiences of inpatient postpartum care during the COVID-19 pandemic, participants emphasized feelings of safety as personal and relational, shaped by timely information, clinician openness, care coordination, and a sense of partnership. Findings highlight critical gaps in healthcare quality, including an over reliance on electronic health records (EHR) over lived experience. Opportunities for improvement include information sharing, adequate resource distribution, consent acquisition, and language concordance. Findings from this study support the need for systemic shifts from postpartum care models focused on bureaucratic policies to those focused on supporting patients’ lived experiences, cultural values, and knowledge. Results underscore the significance of epistemic in/justice, relational trust, and inclusive care practices as essential components of high-quality postpartum care.