Post-birth Warning Signs
You might get this handout included below from your hospital, birth center, or provider as one of many things they send home with you. And that’s likely the last time you’ll see it because all of that inevitably gets lost in a sea of papers you have no idea if you need to keep or not. So instead, save this post to return to when you have a weird postpartum symptom and wonder if you should tell somebody. Let’s chat about who to call:
🚨CALL 911 IF:
•you have a seizure
•you have thoughts of hurting yourself or your baby
•you experience chest pain or shortness of breath
🧑🏾⚕️CALL YOUR PROVIDER IF:
•you have increased bleeding, soak through one pad per hour, or see any blood clots that are the size of an egg or larger
•experience vision changes or a persistent headache that does not improve with medication
•have a temperature of 100.4 or higher
•have an incision that is not healing
•have a red or swollen leg that is painful or warm to touch
☎️when you call either, tell them “I had a baby on ____ and I’m experiencing ____.” please don’t sit on these symptoms, mama. take back control of your postpartum body by listening to what it’s telling you and get the help you need. 🤍
The handout you will likely get below is from AWHONN, the Association of Women’s Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. You can find more info and the PDF version here.
Your postpartum nurses Meg and Carly here to prepare you for postpartum and beyond. We want to make sure you have the education you need to care for your own healing body after birth, not just your baby.
Postpartum prep courses occurring virtually and regularly intended to be taken during pregnancy are now open for registration. Our return to work support group is pay what you can and supports that tough back to work transition. Then join us in our online community for the growth, support and empowerment to continue <3
