D.Cur. / The postpartum-period is a very emotional time for the mother with a new baby, which increases her need for support. Various factors contribute to this need for support, such as the change from the extended family to the nuclear family, which has reduced the number of network persons. The hospitalisation period of the mother after the birth of a baby has also decreased drastically, owing to the high medical costs associated with the birth of a baby. This results in the mother being discharged from the hospital much earlier and her accessibility to professional support being limited thereby. This source of support, namely the professional person who provides the mother with support, is also insufficient since the growth of the population far exceeds that of the nursing occupation, and the need is to huge for only professional persons to provide in. If the mother does not receive the necessary support that she may need, it could lead to postpartum-depression, which has a detrimental effect not only on the mother but also on the new baby and the mother's family. This research is therefore vitally important to the midwife, as it ensures a healthy mother and baby, not only in the hospital environment but also at home in her community where she must live and raise her baby. Community support to the mother during the postpartum-period is a relatively unfamiliar field in midwifery. Although the term community support is often used, the definition thereof has not yet been clarified, and it is used in different contexts, with different meanings. The term community support to the mother has therefore not yet been adequately described within the context of the postpartum-period. The objective of this research is to investigate and describe, and analyse the term community support to the mother during the postpartum-period, and to identify the characteristics of community support to the mother during the postpartum-period, as well as the network persons who must provide this community support to the mother, in order to establish the necessary guidelines for the provision of sufficient community support to the mother during the postpartum-period.

M.Cur. / The purpose of this study was to do a needs assessment of mothers with their first baby in the postpartum period in respect of community support. Since there are as yet little or no support systems in South Africa, it is important to firstly determine the needs of the mother before these community support systems can be mobilised by the midwife and can function efficiently. Semi-structured questionnaires that were compiled from literature were given on one occasion to mothers with their first baby in the postpartum period at community clinics to complete. These results were then collated to identify the needs of the mothers to thereby mobilise the necessary community support systems, in order to sufficiently support mothers in the postpartum period and thus create a healthier community. Recommendations were made on the application in practice, education, and further research that can be carried out in this field.