Background
DISEASES, TRANSITION
Transition to motherhood is characterized by physical, psychological, and social changes [In postpartum women, various aspects of support, such as adequate antenatal care consultations [Home visits, as formal professional support, are recommended in the WHOs strategy on maternal care [The Norwegian Child Health Services (CHS) are provided through the Primary Health Care Services, aiming to prevent diseases, maintain good health status for all children, and improve parents’ autonomy and independence. The CHS is the only health promotive and preventive service to children 0–5 years old at the municipal level. The CHS is free, used by 98% of the eligible population [An early universal home visiting program, New Families (NF), has been developed by a department in the City of Oslo in close collaboration with researchers, PHNs, and users of the CHS. Further information on this development is described elsewhere [The transition to motherhood is argued to be a vulnerable period, affecting aspects of QoL, and emphasizing the need for informal and formal support. The potential for PHNs to provide more formal support through NF, compared to the traditional CHS, may affect women’s QoL during the transition to motherhood. Therefore, the aims of this study were to 1) evaluate the impact of NF on first-time mothers’ QoL by exploring differences between the first-time mothers receiving NF and the first-time mothers receiving follow-up as usual, and if no impact of NF on QoL 2) investigate the association between QoL, social support and selected possible predictive factors in the sample of first-time mothers.