Introduction:
There is a trend towards a shorter hospital stay after normal birth. In Belgium, the length of postnatal stay has declined to 72 hours, meaning a shift to postpartum care at home, mainly provided by midwives. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to ensure continuity of care. Since clinical guidance regarding postnatal care is lacking in Belgium, a multidisciplinary guideline on postpartum care has been developed to optimize quality of care.

Material and Methods:
The ADAPTE procedure has been applied to develop the guideline. After a systematic search for (inter)national guidelines, methodological quality of selected guidelines was assessed, using AGREE, resulting in three included guidelines. The quality of the evidence was rated (GRADE). A consensus procedure (Delphi) was used to formulate ‘good practice points’ (GPP). Additionally, further literature search and contextualising was executed.

Results:
Together with stakeholders seven clinical questions were determined: PART 1: maternal and neonatal physical health; PART 2: information/support, neonatal examinations/screening, mental health, sexual health and baby’s feeding. Following the ADAPTE procedure, recommendations in part 1 for maternal (n=16) and neonatal (n=14) physical health were finalized and validated by the Belgian Centre for Evidence-based Medicine (CEBAM). Part 2 will be finalized end of 2023.

Conclusions:
Evidence-based midwifery practice leads to improved health outcomes and reduced variability in quality and provision of care. This guideline is a step forward in optimizing maternal and neonatal follow-up in postpartum, including early detection of complications. Further attention to a sustainable implementation in postnatal care with collaboration of all engaged professionals is needed.