Postnatal Care
Congratulations on the birth of your baby. At this time many thoughts and emotions will be going through your mind.
If you have given birth in one of our hospitals your stay can be anything from four to six hours post birth, up until two to three days. Certain circumstances may require you to stay in hospital for longer, and this can be discussed with you. If you have had a home birth your midwife will stay with you until they are happy that you and your baby are comfortable, healthy and they have no concerns about how you will manage. This can be anytime up to two to three hours following your birth. They will make sure you have contact numbers to call if you have any worries or concerns.
You can download a copy of After your baby's birth, information booklet for mums and families here.
Contraception
A survey carried out at by the Trust highlighted that over 80% of women would like contraception provided before discharge from the Maternity Department. National guidance also recommends that postnatal woman should be counselled about contraception and provided with it as appropriate before they leave the hospital. Access to contraception has been particularly difficult during the Covid-19 pandemic.
You can speak to your midwife for more information.
Postnatal depression and anxiety
Postnatal depression is a type of depression that many parents experience after having a baby.
It's a common problem, affecting more than 1 in every 10 women within a year of giving birth. It can also affect fathers and partners.
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-natal-depression/overview/
Accessing your maternity notes
Maternity services at NWAngliaFT uses electronic maternity notes (K2 Athena) and as part of this system you are able to see your online maternity notes. You will need to have an email address to register.
My Pregnancy Notes includes a self-referral form with the opportunity to complete a pre- booking questionnaire; information that will help the community midwife team when making your booking appointment.
If you requested online access to your maternity notes, your midwife will have activated this at your booking appointment. You will have received a username and password to the mobile number that you gave to the midwife at booking.
A guide to accessing your maternity notes:
To help you access your online maternity notes, staff in the maternity department have produced a step-by-step guide explaining how to log onto your maternity record. This guide has also been translated into a number of different languages.
The Red Book
The red book is your child's personal health record. It is the main record of your child’s health, growth and development. It contains:
- Details of your birth and local information
- Information and advice
- Immunisation information
- Screening and routine reviews
- Your child’s firsts and growth charts
Advice on pets
How are you preparing your pet for the arrival of a new baby? We've got some helpful links below to help navigate staying safe around dogs to protect both baby, child and dog.
Birth Reflections Service
This service is for anyone who has received maternity care at our hospitals, women can be self-referred or be referred by their midwife, health visitor, obstetrician or GP. This can be done at any point after the birth of your baby.
If you would like to arrange a birth reflections session then please send an email to the team via the site email where you received care at:
We do say to allow up to two weeks for a response to come back.