The postpartum patient who is being discharged from the hospital experienced severe postpartum depression after her last birth. What should the nurse include in the plan of follow-up care for this patient?

Question

1. One visit from a homecare nurse, to take place in 2 days
2. Two visits from a public health nurse over the next month
3. An appointment with a mental health counselor
4. Follow-up with the obstetrician in 6 weeks

Answer 1

3
Rationale 1: A home visit in 2 days will be helpful to assess feeding, but is too early to detect signs of postpartum depression.
Rationale 2: Two home visits in a month are too sporadic to accurately pick up postpartum depression.
Rationale 3: Postpartum depression has a high recurrence rate. Setting up an appointment with a mental health professional is the best option for a woman with a history of postpartum depression.
Rationale 4: Following up with the obstetrician in 6 weeks is too long a wait.