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Postpartum care receipt among parents of infants admitted to a freestanding children’s hospital neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)

Journal of Perinatology volume 46, pages 460–466 (2026)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

Assess postpartum care attendance among parents of infants in a large, urban, children’s hospital level IV NICU with an on-site delivery unit.

Study design

86 postpartum parents of infants continuously hospitalized ≥six weeks and <one year postpartum in a level IV NICU between 4/24/23 and 2/16/24 completed surveys. We compared postpartum visit attendance by six weeks between parents of infants transferred into the NICU to parents of infants born in the hospital’s delivery unit (inborn).

Results

26 (30%) did not attend a postpartum visit by six weeks, significantly more common among parents of transferred (41%) than parents of (10%) inborn infants (aRR 4.5, 95% CI: 1.3–15.6). Health concerns were common in both groups.

Conclusion

Parents of transferred infants had a higher risk of not attending a postpartum visit by six weeks compared to parents of inborn infants, highlighting the need for children’s hospitals to measure and address postpartum healthcare gaps.

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Data availability

Study data contains confidential information such as patient data, therefore raw data will not be publicly posted. Investigators wishing to analyze data, can email burrish@chop.edu and with institutional data use agreements and institutional review board approval, data may be shared.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge all the NICU parent participants and staff. Without their participation and collaboration, this work would not have been possible. We would also like to acknowledge Dr. Theodore Schurr and Dr. Emily Ng for their thoughtful review of this manuscript as members of Dr. Mari’s dissertation committee. The time of Dr. Mari is supported by the University of Pennsylvania Benjamin Franklin Fellowship and Dissertation Completion Fellowship through the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences. The time of Dr. Burris is supported by the Department of Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant for Biological Anthropology [BCS-2235954].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Katey E. Mari

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Morgan K. Hoke

  3. Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Morgan K. Hoke

  4. Division of Neonatology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Niesha Darden & Heather H. Burris

  5. Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Heather H. Burris

  6. Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Heather H. Burris

Authors
  1. Katey E. Mari
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  2. Morgan K. Hoke
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  3. Niesha Darden
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  4. Heather H. Burris
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Contributions

KEM designed the study, conducted study data collection and analyses, acquired study funding, and wrote and edited the original manuscript draft. MKH aided in manuscript review and editing. ND aided with study design and methodology, and manuscript review and editing. HHB designed the study, advised on study data collection and analyses, project supervision, and manuscript review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katey E. Mari.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved this study (Protocol #23-020730_AM3). This study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Mari, K.E., Hoke, M.K., Darden, N. et al. Postpartum care receipt among parents of infants admitted to a freestanding children’s hospital neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). J Perinatol 46, 460–466 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-025-02476-x

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