Objectives The first 6 weeks postpartum represent a time of significant adjustment and learning for parents. Healthcare providers accurately understanding parents' needs and preferences regarding support, education, and services during this critical time is essential for optimizing maternal and infant health. The first objective of this study was to explore parents' experiences adjusting to the parenting role during the first 6 weeks postpartum. The second objective was to elicit from parents where and how they sought support and information during the early postpartum period, and what hindered this process. Methods Five focus groups were conducted with 33 mothers and fathers of young children, stratified by ethnicity, education, and income. An interdisciplinary team thematically coded verbatim transcripts and identified emergent themes. Results Main themes included low confidence in parenting and sifting through parenting information. Additional themes included communicating with partner about changing roles, breastfeeding, maternal mental health, and maternal postpartum recovery. Low parenting confidence was closely linked with information seeking, yet participants expressed being overwhelmed by the task of managing conflicting parenting information. Women reported that providers focused on infant needs, leaving them feeling unprepared for their own mental and physical health needs. Conclusions for Practice Parents report extensive needs for education and support in the early postpartum period, yet also report feeling overwhelmed by the quantity of parenting information available. These findings suggest parents need and desire reliable healthcare education after discharge that includes parent health and adjustment.

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Background: More than 1 million Americans receive primary care from federal homeless health care programs yearly. Vulnerabilities that can make care challenging include pain, addiction, psychological distress, and a lack of shelter. Research on the effectiveness of tailoring services for this population is limited.Objective: The aim was to examine whether homeless-tailored primary care programs offer a superior patient experience compared with nontailored ("mainstream") programs overall, and for highly vulnerable patients.Research Design: National patient survey comparing 26 US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers' homelesstailored primary care ("H-PACT"s) to mainstream primary care ("mainstream PACT"s) at the same locations.Participants: A total of 5766 homeless-experienced veterans.Measures: Primary care experience on 4 scales: Patient-Clinician Relationship, Cooperation, Accessibility/Coordination, and Homeless-Specific Needs. Mean scores (range: 1-4) were calculated and dichotomized as unfavorable versus not. We counted key vulnerabilities (chronic pain, unsheltered homelessness, severe psychological distress, and history of overdose, 0-4), and categorized homeless-experienced veterans as having fewer ( ≤ 1) and more ( ≥ 2) vulnerabilities.Results: H-PACTs outscored mainstream PACTs on all scales (all P < 0.001). Unfavorable care experiences were more common in mainstream PACTs compared with H-PACTs, with adjusted risk differences of 11.9% (95% CI = 6.3-17.4), 12.6% (6.2-19.1), 11.7% (6.0-17.3), and 12.6% (6.2-19.1) for Relationship, Cooperation, Access/Coordination, and Homeless-Specific Needs, respectively. For the Relationship and Cooperation scales, H-PACTs were associated with a greater reduction in unfavorable experience for patients with ≥ 2 vulnerabilities versus ≤ 1 (interaction P < 0.0001).Conclusions: Organizations that offer primary care for persons experiencing homelessness can improve the primary care experience by tailoring the design and delivery of services.