retrospective analysis of inpatient prescribing patterns among postpartum patients in tertiary care hospital

The postpartum period involves intensive pharmaceutical care that focuses on maternal care and a deep understanding of these prescribing habits is critical for optimizing recovery and ensuring safety of the infant. to understand these prescribing habits, we conducted a retrospective cohort study by manually reviewing 356 prescriptions (284 vaginal deliveries (79.77%) and 72 caesarean sections (20.22%)) between january and march 2025. data on all medications were extracted from case sheets available. the analysis revealed analgesics were most commonly prescribed; their prescribing was sharply stratified by delivery mode. intravenous (iv) paracetamol was almost exclusive to the post-caesarean cohort (86.4%). antibiotics were appropriately administered in all of the c-sections. however, proton pump inhibitors (ppis) were co-prescribed in 90.9% of caesarean patients, compared to just 42.6% of vaginal delivery patients. analysis of prescription duration revealed distinct, short-course therapeutic windows, with scheduled analgesics and proton pump inhibitors (ppis) administered for significantly longer periods post-caesarean section. critically, analysis of lactation risk revealed that over 95% of prescriptions were for drugs classified as l1 (safest) or l2 (safer) for breastfeeding. additionally, it was interesting to see that polypharmacy was observed in about 76.5% of the cases and almost seen in all of the c-section cases. this study affirms that a deep dive review remains a powerful tool for auditing clinical practice while confirming the fact that clinical practice in most cases largely aligns with evidence-based standards, demonstrating that a dual focus on maternal recovery and neonatal safety remains the core of postpartum care.