Postpartum care
Your baby is here! Now comes a period where you need to recover from childbirth, adjust to a different rhythm, and your hormones suddenly change as well. This can be quite challenging. The postpartum period is truly an integral part of the entire process of becoming a mother. And we are here for you: as midwives, we are responsible for your medical care during the postpartum period.
Arrange your postpartum care on time
We can only help you with your delivery and postpartum period if you have arranged postpartum care. Due to shortages in maternity care, it is important that you register as early as possible. Check with your insurance company to see which organization they have a contract with so that the postpartum care is reimbursed. There is always a personal contribution required for postpartum care.
The maternity nurse or postpartum care organization must have a contract with the LUMC and Alrijne so that they can also provide partus assistance (help during childbirth) there. Without this partus assistance, we cannot supervise your delivery there.
Emergency
No emergency
For questions that are not urgent during the postpartum period, you can always consult the BabyManager app: BabyManager.
What subject would you like to know more about?
Always call if:
- Losing a lot of blood; filling one maternity pad in half an hour, large clots, or if you feel unwell or dizzy.
- You have abdominal pain, other than afterpains.
- Unable to urinate or unable to empty your bladder properly.
- Have a fever (rectal 38 degrees or higher).
- Have high blood pressure symptoms.
- Are worried.
Your baby:
- Has a temperature below 36.5 or above 37.5 and does not warm up after your initial actions if below 36.5 or cool down if above 37.5.
- Drinks poorly.
- Is drowsy
- Vomits with great force.
- Is blue, gray, or pale in color.
- Makes you worried.
Postpartum care
We will visit your home 2-3 times (every other day) during the first week. During one of those visits, with your permission, we will also perform the heel prick.
The on-duty midwife makes house calls every day (including weekends). She will come by depending on how busy the shift is. We assume that you will be at home with your baby during your postpartum week, so we do not call in advance. We do try to take into account the rest period between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. A house call lasts about 20 to 30 minutes.
The maternity nurse is our eyes and ears during the postpartum period. She will call us if your or your baby’s check-ups are abnormal, or simply to consult. We also discuss the check-ups she performed on you and your baby with her during our visits. The maternity nurse visits your home between 30 and 36 weeks of pregnancy for a personal intake. If this is your second or subsequent child, the intake is often conducted by telephone.
For questions that are not urgent during the postpartum period, you can always consult the BabyManager app: BabyManager.
Do you want to start exercising again after giving birth? Then read this article first.
Food for your baby
Breastfeeding is unique nutrition for your baby, precisely tailored to what he or she needs. As midwifes we are entousiastic about breastfeeding because of al the good qualities of breast milk. For more information about breastfeeding, see:
- Breastfeeding and bottle feeding | Nutrition Centre
- Breastfeeding | Nutrition Center
- Breastfeeding Organization | La Leche League
- Mastitis, how do you deal with it? | Borstvoeding.nl
With most supplementary insurance policies, lactation consultant education or a consultation is reimbursed. For lactation consultants in Leiden, see:
- Lactation Consultants Mamma Leiden
- Lactation Consultant Melina Leiden
- Lactatiekundige Praktijk Leiden
Bottle feeding
Do you want to bottle-feed your baby, or are you thinking about weaning from breastfeeding? On this page, you will find information about everything involved in bottle-feeding: | Bottle-feeding | Voedingscentrum.
Center for Youth and Family (CJG)
The CJG takes over the care of your child from us after the postpartum period. They will visit in the second week after the delivery for the hearing test, often without an appointment. Subsequently, they will schedule an appointment for an intake at your home. During this intake, they also administer the RSV vaccination in the winter season. At this appointment, you will be informed which location in Leiden or Leiderdorp you have been assigned to. This depends on the postcode.
The CJG will advise you on vaccinations, nutrition, and your baby’s development. Together with your GP, they are your point of contact after we have concluded our care 10 days after the birth.
Upon concluding our care, we will send a message to the CJG so that they are well prepared to continue guiding your child. We will ask for your permission before sending this message.
The CJG can be reached at 088 – 254 23 84.
Check out their website here.
Contraception
It is probably not the first thing you think of, but you can be fertile again very soon after giving birth! You can expect your first period about 4 to 6 weeks after delivery. You will have already ovulated about 2 weeks earlier. So, you are already fertile before you know your cycle has started again.
The moral of the story: you never know when your cycle will start again, and you become fertile again without realizing it. So, if you don’t want to get pregnant again immediately, you need to make a choice about contraception.
For decision support and other information about contraception:
- Contraception
- You can visit our Midwifery Centre De Poort for a comprehensive contraception consultation. Our midwives there have completed specialized training in contraception and are authorized to prescribe various types of contraception and, if necessary, insert them.
Follow-up inspection
You are welcome to come to our clinic for a postnatal check-up appointment six weeks after giving birth. It’s up to you whether you choose to do so. During the visit, we’ll check on your recovery, discuss how you’re doing, and look back with you on your pregnancy, delivery, postpartum period, and your experience with the care you received. A postnatal check-up appointment takes about 15 minutes.
You make this appointment yourself by phone. We will then try to schedule you with the midwife who attended your delivery. If you gave birth under the responsibility of the gynecologist, the hospital will make an appointment with you for the postnatal check-up. After the postnatal check-up, your care returns to your own GP.