Watching Over Life: Practices and Meanings of Postpartum Vital Signs Monitoring in Eastern Uganda

IntroductionPostnatal deaths account for about one-third of maternal mortality in Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Nearly half occur within the first 24 hours and are preventable through continuous inpatient monitoring. This study assessed maternal mortality within the first 24 postnatal hours; and the current postpartum monitoring practices, including the availability of monitoring charts and the frequency of vital sign assessments in eastern Uganda. MethodsThis cross-sectional study reviewed the medical records of all postpartum women admitted at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, Eastern Uganda, between August 2022 and February 2023. A semi-structured data extraction form was used. The outcome variable was postpartum monitoring; categorized as "No" for women with no vital signs monitored and "Yes" for those with at least one vital sign monitored. Descriptive analysis was performed using Stata Version 17.0, and Poisson regression was employed to explore the association between various factors and postpartum monitoring. ResultsMedical records of 2,717 postpartum mothers were reviewed. The median (interquartile range) age was 25(20-30) years. A minority (34%; 910/2717) of mothers had vital sign observation charts in their medical records and very few (4%; 110/2717) had a fluid balance chart. About 24% (651/2717) of mothers had at least one vital sign recorded. Blood pressure was the most (16.8%; 456/2717) recorded vital sign followed by pulse rate (13.6%; 369/2717). Respiratory rate and temperature were the least monitored vital signs with 1.2% and 1.1% records respectively. Mothers who delivered by C-section had a 151% higher prevalence of postpartum monitoring compared to those who had a vaginal delivery (aPR: 2.51; 95% CI: 2.19-2.89). Maternal mortality rate on the first postpartum day was 8.8 per 1000, with postpartum hemorrhage accounting for 61%. ConclusionPostpartum vital signs monitoring was low. LMICs need to devise means of automating the monitoring process.