The care of a woman and her baby in the immediate hours, days and weeks following birth can make an enormous difference to their longterm health and well-being. The content and timing of postnatal care led by midwives was formalised in the United Kingdom following a statutory legislation that was first introduced in England in 1902. Then there were concerns that too many women were dying following birth. The provision of midwifery care for all women including postnatal contacts in hospital and in the home, together with improved public health and advances in medicine, led to a dramatic fall in the UK maternal mortality rate. Sadly, the main causes.
