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.

Front cover of booklet showing variety of images linked to pregnancy

The Registry Office upgrade means that from Monday 14 October to Friday 25 October, appointments and certificate orders can be made by telephone only on 01733 864646.
Online birth registration appointments will resume on Monday 28 October.  Online certificate orders will also commence on this date.

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.

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.

K2 Online Access Leaflet NWAngliaFT.

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

You may find that you would like more information about what happened during their birth and why certain things were done. A birth reflection is a type of debrief, led by an experienced midwife in a safe and confidential space for anyone who has received maternity care at our hospitals. The service is available up to a year after your baby was born.

Why might I want a birth reflection?

A birth reflection can help in the following ways:
  • Giving you an opportunity to ask questions about your care – please note that we may not be able to answer every question in as much as detail as you would like. If you have questions which we are unable to answer, we may be able to refer you to a clinician who can have these discussions with you.
  • Giving you a space to process and reflect upon unresolved thoughts and feelings from your birth experience
  • Filling in the blanks – occasionally you may find it difficult to remember everything which happened during your birth, once you have had time to process it can be useful to go through your birth to make sense of and add narrative to your experience. You will be able to view your notes and ask questions to help you understand your experience.
Please be aware that the birth reflection service is not a part of the formal complaints service — as such we are unable to process formal complaints. If you wish to make a complaint, or you feel you would like a written response to any concerns, please do this through our dedicated Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), who's details can be found here.
Please also be aware that our Birth Reflection Team are not mental health practitioners and are unable to offer a counselling and therapy services, and we are unable to diagnose or provide treatment. However, we may be able to signpost to services which can provide that support if a need is identified during an appointment

How do I access a birth reflection?

The birth reflections service is a self-referral service, this means that if you feel you would like to be seen you can request an appointment. If a service provider recommends the service, they will advise on how you can self-refer.

You can refer yourself in the following ways:

1. The preferred method of referral is through our self-referral form. Healthcare professionals also have access to this form if you need them to help you complete it.
2. If you are unable to access our self-referral form you may send an email to – nwangliaft.birthreflections@nhs.uk. Please include the following in your email:
  • Name
  • Telephone number
  • Your date of birth
  • The date of the birth experience you would like to discuss
  • NHS/DIS number if possible
  • Postcode
  • Ethnicity (this is so we can explore which families are accessing our service to ensure we are meeting the needs of all our families)
  • If you are currently pregnant
  • A brief explanation of why you would like to refer yourself to our service
3. If you do not have access to a smart phone or the internet you may call us on 01480 418783. If no one is available to take your call you may leave a voice mail, and someone will get back to you within a week.
4. We may call you to ask for more information, this is to ensure you are seen by the most appropriate person, in some instances we may recommend a different service depending on your individual needs.