Objective To investigate the preventive effect of clinical nursing pathway of health education on partum urinary retention.Methods Two hundred and forty primiparas hospitalized in our hospital from September 2012 to February 2013 were randomized equally into the observation group and the control group.The former received health education by clinical nursing pathway and the control group conventional health education.The two groups were compared in terms of incidence of postpartum urinary retention.Results The incidences of postpartum urinary retention in the observation group and the control one were 3.33% and 11.67%,respectively.The difference in the incidence between the groups were statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusion The clinical nursing pathway of health education may effectively prevent the occurrence of postpartum urinary retention.