**4. Challenges to providing effective postpartum midwifery care**

The postnatal period is challenging for clients and caregivers. Midwives as carers share in the emotions of their clients and experience the emotions of their clients and because they are empathetic to their plight, they suffer anxiety and psychological stress. This has the propensity to interfere with the quality of care they render. Midwives must adapt quickly, be resilient, communicate and foster support for the mothers. The inability to separate self from the problem would lead to a crisis or worsen the existing crisis. Communication is a key factor to support midwives experiencing the stress of caring for postpartum mothers. Effective communication with peers and support systems can reduce tension of this kind [66].

Midwives at the lead are associated with improved postnatal maternal outcomes, they protect and preserve the integrity of mothers, but experience decreased adverse events [67]. However, midwives still face challenges while rendering this care. Midwives encounter while giving postnatal the issues of continuity, collaboration, and communication quality. Though there are concerns relating to individual perceptions of midwives regards implementing midwiferyled actions, the accrued benefits to postpartum women and the ease of adapting such models are undeniable [68].

There are also challenges to providing care consistently in this model related to time constraints, the unpredictability of labour and the inconsistency of mothers. Other challenges include inadequate workforce and empowerment of midwives and lack of support from facility management [68].

Implementing quality midwifery care is preceded by adequate planning and implementation of care standards. Therefore, midwives must be conversant with unit and facility protocol and work at sustaining the same. Training midwives in that light will sustain the process and reduce distress [69].
