Postpartum Instructions for You and Baby

Gentle Reminder: The ideas shared here are for educational purposes only and are not a substitute for personalized medical care. Every body and every pregnancy is unique — please check in with your healthcare provider before trying any new remedy, especially if you have concerns or underlying conditions.

Postpartum Instructions for Mother

1. Y ou should not soak more than 1 pad in 30 minutes. If you do, first start by emptying your bladder, then massage your uterus firmly to contract it, and finish by nursing your baby.

2. Check your uterus for firmness every hour for the first 24 hours and several times a day for three days thereafter. It should be firm like a ball and beneath the navel.

3. Change your pad each time you go to the toilet. Use a squeeze bottle with warm water or warm peri-herb tea to rinse your perineal area after using the toilet, then pat yourself dry rather than wiping. This helps to prevent infections and will help stop the burning when you urinate.

4. Always have someone go with you to the toilet for the first few hours after birth. Sometimes you might feel dizzy or lightheaded after the birth. For the first day, be sure to empty your bladder at least every two hours while you are awake. A full bladder will tend to encourage more bleeding.

5. Wait to shower until you do not feel weak or lightheaded. You may take a bath as long as the tub is cleaned thoroughly.

6. Notice if your flow has any bad odor (it should smell like a period).

7. Your discharge should turn from red to pink in a few days, then gradually change to a brownish discharge, which may last from two to five weeks. If it should turn red again, or increase, you are doing too much. Slow down!

8. Call if you have a fever over 101°; it could be a sign of uterine or breast infection.

9. If you have had stitches, you may use a sitz bath with comfrey, goldenseal, and ginger tea, three or four times a day. Also helpful for healing is a garlic sitz bath made by boiling a couple of fresh garlic cloves. Witch hazel is soothing for hemorrhoids.

10. Try to get help for housework and cooking for the first two weeks. Add activity slowly as you feel like it. Ask visitors for real help, like doing the dishes or laundry or spending time with the older children so you can rest.

11. Afterbirth pains often increase with each birth. Take Afterease tincture or drink a cup of postpartum tea or hops tea one half hour before nursing to greatly relieve the discomfort. Keeping your bladder empty and massaging your abdomen with warming comfrey salve may also help, as will up to 800mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours.

12. Abstain from sexual relations (penetration) until your bleeding has stopped and any stitches have been healed. A good idea is to wait until after your six-week check-up.

13. Drink lots of water and fluids (4 qts/day) to establish milk supply and flow. Avoid caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea, colas,and chocolate while you are nursing.

**Red raspberry leaf tea can reduce your milk supply.

14. Get plenty of rest and eat plenty of good food rich in iron to replenish lost blood. Keep up your prenatal diet and vitamins while you are nursing.Postpartum Instructions

Postpartum Instructions for Baby

1. Air dry your baby's cord stump as much as possible. No alcohol is necessary. Use a drop of lavender oil with a drop of coconut oil, on a Q-tip, to clean around the inside if it gets smelly. You can continue doing this after the cord has fallen off, until it is completely dried. Be sure to turn down the diapers,and keep plastic pants and plastic diaper linings away from the cord so that it can dry quickly.

2. If your baby begins to look yellow, keep the baby in indirect sunlight as much as possible. Remove baby's clothes and sun baby on the front (with eyes covered) and then on back. 10-15 minutes on each side, twice a day, is good. Be careful that the baby does not get sunburned. Sun your baby at a window. If the sun is too intense or not available, use a full spectrum fluorescent light. Breastfeeding your baby frequently will also help decrease the yellow by helping baby pass the bilirubin. (Normal physiological jaundice peaks on the third day -72 hours.)

3. Your baby should urinate and have a bowel movement at least once within 24 hours after birth.Once your milk has come in, your baby should wet at least six diapers per day. The bowels should turn to a liquidy, mustard yellow cottage cheese consistency once your milk is in.

4. Nurse your baby as often as they want to nurse until your milk flow is established. This will probably be at least every two hours, sometimes more frequently at first. It is necessary for your baby to nurse frequently to build up your milk supply. The first milk, or colostrum, is full of antibodies and it is very important for your baby's health. Alternate breasts (about 5-10 minutes on each side to begin with). Air dry your nipples several times a day. To keep them from cracking, use nipple balm or lanolin, which does not need to be washed off before nursing. You may also try wearing silverettes or a nipple shield. The colostrum also helps to build the vitamin K for the baby, which is why frequent feedings are helpful.

5. After cleaning your baby's bottom, apply some olive oil for the first few days, or until all dark stools are gone. This prevents scrubbing baby's tender bottom.

6. Watch what you eat. Sometimes milk, onion, garlic, chocolate, caffeine, peanut butter,legume (beans), and vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, tomato, pepper, corn, peas, and cauliflower can make your baby colicky.

7. Lie baby on their side with the head a little lower than the rest of the body. The mucus can drain more easily without choking them.

8. Do not use furry sheets and blankets for baby or overdress, as these things can lead to oxygen deprivation. Wear cotton clothes on your baby as cotton allows baby's skin to breathe.

9. Pacifiers and bottles may confuse your baby's sucking and latch. Do not use those for the first three to four weeks.

10. Enjoy your baby and relax! Take things one day at a time.

11. Do not hesitate to call your midwife if anything seems unusual or troublesome about your baby .

Disclaimer:

The information, suggestions, and resources provided on this website, including holistic and natural remedies for common pregnancy-related concerns are offered for educational and informational purposes only.

They are not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of your licensed healthcare provider, physician, or qualified medical professional with any questions you may have regarding your health, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, or your baby’s health.

No information on this website should be interpreted as establishing a client–midwife or patient–provider relationship. Reliance on any information provided here is solely at your own risk.

If you are experiencing symptoms of infection, complications, or an urgent medical concern, please contact your healthcare provider immediately or call emergency services (911 in the U.S.).

By using this website, you acknowledge and agree that neither the midwife nor this practice is liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from the use of, or reliance on, the information provided.