A woman’s experience of the immediate post partum period is influenced by cultural and local practises as well as her individual situation. The six week visit after a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia is an important opportunity to continue the process of debriefing about the woman’s experience of preeclampsia and its impact on her mental and physical well being and her family. It is also a starting point for assessing resolution of the manifestations of preeclampsia but more importantly to ensure appropriate, ongoing monitoring for complete recovery from all aspects of the disease.
Six weeks post partum is probably not an appropriate time to discuss the important issues of recurrence risk and long term health implications although these are critical to completing counselling of these patients and should probably be delayed until at least 3 months post partum.
Our current models of care are poorly suited to our increasing recognition of the long term impact of preeclampsia on the health of mother and baby.