[Effects of the homecare assistance program on maternal and child protection services]

Abstract

In 2010, the French Ministry of Health started the implementation of the "PRADO" process, which constitutes a way to finance two early post-partum home visits by midwives. These two visits occur between the third and twelfth day of the newborn child. However, this PRADO program has come as a supplementary service, while the Maternal and child protection services ("PMI") were already in charge of home visitation in early postpartum up to the child's sixth birthday. Through a qualitative survey, this study aimed at evaluating the effect of the implementation of the PRADO program over the PMI structure and home visitation intervention. The results suggest an important lack of coordination between these services that appear to be in competition with each other, while both financed by public funding. The PMI services expressed their feeling that families were less well served in early postpartum, with these two services.