Assessment of the mobility of mothers postpartum to identify those at greatest risk of venous thromboembolism

Abstract

Our aim was to directly assess the postnatal mobility of mothers and to relate and compare venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk with current guidelines on VTE thromboprophylaxis postpartum. VTE still remains one of the leading causes of direct maternal deaths in the western world and this risk is greatest in the postnatal period. Mode of delivery and postnatal mobility are key, however the effect of the former on the latter is unclear. A total of 200 antenatal women were recruited into the study. Each was given a pedometer and recorded the number of steps taken daily for 7 days postpartum. A total of 72 women completed the study. Those who underwent any form of vaginal delivery were mobile soonest. By day 7 postpartum, women following vaginal delivery were almost twice as mobile as those who underwent caesarean section (CS). Women who underwent emergency CS were more mobile than those who had elective CS, which is contrary to current assumptions.

Keywords::

• mobility
• mode of delivery
• postpartum
• VTE

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Joanna Flynn, Sheba Jarvis and Rebecca Jenkinson for their contribution to data collection.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.