Going Home Following Your Birth
Here is some important information on going home with your baby following birth.
Following your discharge, we encourage you to contact us by phone if you need further support and advice:
Community Midwives (8.30am to 6pm) — 02920745030
Midwifery Led Unit (24 hours) — 02920745196
Out of Hours GP — 111
The Next Few Days
Before your discharge from hospital, your midwife will arrange either a phone call, home visit or clinic appointment for the next day. Here are the main community midwifery appointments:
- First day at home following birth
- Day 3-4 Baby weight (Breastfeeding Babies only)
- Day 6-8 A midwifery check on yourself and baby weight. Newborn Bloodspot Screening will also be discussed.
Each family will have a different number of visits depending on need and this will be discussed with you on discharge and again at the first contact with your community midwife.
You can still contact us if you have any questions or concerns on the numbers at the top of this form and we can provide additional advice or postnatal appointments as required.
Your local Health Visitor will contact you approximately a week following birth and arrange your first health visitor appointment between 10-14 days. They will discuss the relevant information regarding vaccinations and recommend that you contact your GP to register your baby and book their 6-week post-birth examination.
Your Body Following Birth
Your body will undergo many changes following birth. Here is some NHS information on what are normal changes and when to seek further advice and if you had a caesarean birth, here is some additional advice on going home following a caesarean section.
If you are aged 25 or above and have not had a smear test in the last 3 years, you will need to book this to be done with your GP surgery. It is usually done 12 weeks following birth. Here is up-to-date information on cervical screening.
Safe Sleeping
Safer sleep advice from the lullaby Trust gives simple steps for how you can reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) which is commonly known as cot death. It can give you the peace of mind to enjoy this special time.
Holding your baby can be worrying to start with as they seem so small and fragile. Here is some information from the NSPCC on how to hold babies safely.
Spotting Signs of Illness with your Baby
Jaundice is common but is usually harmless for babies. However, it can rarely cause complications. Please read this link for useful information.
It can be difficult to tell when a baby is seriously ill, but the main thing is to trust your instincts. Here is some information on serious signs of illness (please be aware that you must not give paracetamol or ibuprofen to new babies unless it has been prescribed by a doctor).
Registering Your Baby's Birth
This must be done before your baby is 6 weeks old (42 days). Please click on the links for your area for further information:
Cardiff Register Office
Vale Register Office
You will also need to register your new baby with your GP surgery as soon as possible.
Feeding Your Baby
We are here to support you in your choice of feeding your baby.
Breastfeeding
There is plenty of advice to read on the Breastfeeding Network website and this is a great video to watch on positioning your baby to the breast. We run community breastfeeding support groups that you are welcome to access and skilled Community Care Assistants (MCA) are available most days for additional breastfeeding support in your own home.
Bottle feeding
Information on sterilising any equipment and instructions on how to safely feed using formula
Check out this poo guide to see if your baby is feeding effectively!
If you are concerned that your baby has a tongue tie, your midwife can refer you to our specialist clinic for assessment if you are having feeding problems. In Cardiff and Vale UHB, we do have a service for Tongue Tie Division (Maternity and ENT paediatrics depending on the age of the baby).
Caring For Your Mental Health
Being pregnant is a big life event and it is natural to feel a lot of different emotions. Here is further information on caring for your mental health from the NHS and MIND.
Contraception
Fertility can return very quickly following birth. This link will give up-to-date information regarding postnatal contraception.
Screening Tests and Vitamin K for your Baby
The Newborn Physical Examination is done before your baby is 72 hours old.
Newborn Hearing Screening One or two babies in every 1000 are born with a hearing loss that may affect their speech development. This hearing test may be done during your stay in the hospital after birth or within 4 weeks at a community clinic.
Newborn Bloodspot Screening is when a small sample of blood is taken from the baby's heel when they are approximately a week old.
All babies will be offered Vitamin K following birth — here is some information regarding Vitamin K and Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding.
Pelvic Health Physiotherapy
The Fit for Future leaflet contains advice to help new mothers recover following childbirth and pregnancy, including information on pelvic floor muscle and abdominal exercises.
Please watch these videos for further after-birth physiotherapy advice
For further advice from our pelvic health physiotherapy team, check out our website. If you would like to be referred to this service, please ask your midwife, health visitor or GP to refer you.
Anticoagulant Injections
You may have been prescribed injections to take each day to reduce your risk of blood clots following birth. Your midwife will show you how to do this and support you or your partner to administer the first dose. Here is a helpful video and leaflet to recap on how this is done.
Family Pets
Many families have a pet dog or cat. Please see these videos on preparing your dog or preparing your cat for bringing your new baby home.
We provide a Birthafterthoughts service. If you wish to discuss your birth experience with a senior midwife, please contact us using the Birth Afterthoughts Self-referral Form.