HLTAMAT003 — Provide postnatal health care for mothers and babies

Elements & performance criteria

Performance evidence

• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: complete two postnatal physical health assessments and screening tests for each mother and baby within six weeks of birth
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: complete two maternal assessments for postnatal depression and anxiety, for each mother
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: develop and document a postnatal care plan
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: according to their individual needs, provide information and guidance about maternal self-care in the postnatal period
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: according to their individual needs, provide information and guidance about baby care in the postnatal period
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: according to their individual needs, provide information and guidance about breastfeeding
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: according to their individual needs, provide information and guidance about key triggers for seeking prompt medical care for babies
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: according to their individual needs, provide information and guidance about contraceptive options
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: according to their individual needs, provide information and guidance about social and emotional wellbeing support services available to women and their partners and families
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: document, in client records, accurate details of observations, examinations and tests completed during postnatal assessments
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: document, in client records, accurate details of evaluation notes about the health of each mother and baby
• for three women and their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander babies: document, in client records, accurate details of information and referrals provided to client
• from assessments personally completed or from case study assessment documentation, identify signs, symptoms and implications of two different postnatal complications that require referral to a medical practitioner.

Knowledge evidence

• organisational policies and procedures for: documenting postnatal health assessments and care plans; maintaining confidentiality of client information
• for postnatal health care: organisational responsibilities and role boundaries of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health practitioners; the roles of other members of the multidisciplinary care team including medical staff, obstetricians, traditional and other midwives, and female community Elders; how to facilitate referrals; the role of standard treatment protocols in postnatal care: types that are used by primary health care organisations including Standard Treatment Manuals (STM) and how to access; purpose, format and inclusions; how to use to identify postnatal health assessment and plan requirements; formats and typical inclusions of written postnatal care plans; key elements of postnatal health assessments completed on mothers and babies; the importance of screening postnatal women for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and standard testing procedures including for syphilis; different types of infection control precautions and when these would be used for different types of postnatal examinations and tests; equipment and procedures for postnatal physical examinations and tests; key features of assessment tools used to evaluate emotional wellbeing in the postnatal period: purpose and utility of assessment tools and how these contribute to an overall assessment; tools used to screen for postnatal depression and anxiety, particularly the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); scoring systems and how scaled outcomes are used as a simple measure of a client’s current emotional status
• for the postnatal period: maternal physiological changes associated with childbirth, the postnatal period and breastfeeding; common maternal health conditions and obstetric complications including signs, symptoms and overview of treatments and medications; risks to newborn babies from maternal sexually transmitted infections (STIs); risks to maternal health from pre-existing conditions and diseases, particularly for anaemia, diabetes and heart disease; risks of mother and baby developing type 2 diabetes after maternal gestational diabetes; common short-term uncomplicated health conditions for babies including signs, symptoms and overview of treatments and medications; maternal and baby medical complications requiring referral including signs, symptoms and overview of treatments and medications; risks and contraindications associated with treatments and medications used for common and serious conditions; key triggers for seeking prompt medical care for babies, signs and symptoms, and techniques for explaining these to parents and families: dehydration; diarrhoea; vomiting; fever
• key requirements of healthy maternal lifestyle in the postnatal period: nutritional needs, including to support breastfeeding during postnatal period and beyond, and complications for nutritional plan that relate to diabetes in the mother; sleep; rest; exercise; nil-use of alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco
• for babies: basic physical care routines; key recommendations in current Australian national guidelines for breastfeeding and use of infant formula; vaccination requirements: types required; when they are required; common problems associated with breastfeeding and how to resolve and treat: tongue-tie in babies; difficulty for baby in latching on; sore or cracked nipples and associated thrush; not enough or too much breast milk; blocked milk duct, mastitis and breast abscess; types of medications that should be avoided during the breastfeeding period
• common methods of contraception: advantages, disadvantages and levels of effectiveness; suitability for use in the postnatal and breastfeeding period; contraindications
• social and emotional wellbeing needs that can arise in the postnatal and early childhood period for women, their partners and families, and: care and support services available in the community, state or territory: general; any designed to specifically assist in the postnatal and early childhood period; perinatal palliative care and death; how women, their partners and families can access services and the role of health practitioners in facilitating access; signs of family violence, support services available in the community, state or territory and referral processes.

Foundation skills

• Reading skills: interpret sometimes complex and unfamiliar standard treatment protocols and client records involving medical terminology and abbreviations.
• Writing skills: produce detailed plans using clear language easily understood by both clients and health care team members; use fundamental sentence structure, health terminology and abbreviations to complete forms and reports that require factual information.
• Oral communication skills: provide unambiguous information to clients using plain language and terms easily understood; ask open and closed probe questions and actively listen to elicit information from clients and determine understanding of information provided.
• Numeracy skills: interpret sometimes complex medical numerical data and abbreviations in standard treatment protocols and client records; take and record accurate measurements involving weights, lengths, rates and degrees.
• Technology skills: select and use medical equipment suited to purpose of postnatal physical examinations and tests.

Unit content sourced from training.gov.au — © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Auditori is not affiliated with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Questions about assessing HLTAMAT003