Home birthers, questions about immediate postpartum

Texas77again

did your midwives have you record baby's vital signs?  if so, how often? 

were you required to check your own vital signs? 

did that include checking your fundus and bleeding? 

what other things were you required to check for yourself and baby?

when did your midwives come back to your house for the postpartum appt and how many did you get?

any other thoughts on this?

 

 

pinksweetpea2

My MW stayed at least 4 hours after I gave birth.   They did all the newborn checks at that point (except the heal prick- bloodwork- which they did later).  

I did not check anything.  They returned the next day (I gave birth at 8 PM and they left after midnight) and then again on the 3rd day.  

I might not understand what you are looking for?  Giving birth at home is just different.  There are no nurses waking you up every couple of hours to (unnecessarily IMO) check your "vitals."  

Texas77again

i was trying to get a feel for what other mw's do.  i have had mom's check baby's temp, respirations, number of wet and poopy diapers for the first few days after birth.  i like them to record it every 4 hrs for the first 24, then two-three times a day for the next 3 days. 

then for mom, i have her record her temp, teach her to keep her uterus firm (especially if they notice an increase in their bleeding, or if they have had a lot of babies) and record how heavy or light her bleeding is. 

 

LindseyJW

Texas77again:

did your midwives have you record baby's vital signs?  if so, how often? no

were you required to check your own vital signs? no

did that include checking your fundus and bleeding? bleeding only

what other things were you required to check for yourself and baby? nothing in particular. i was asked to report back if anything was out of the ordinary (beyond what i expected and/or she told me to expect)

when did your midwives come back to your house for the postpartum appt and how many did you get? about 20hrs later, my MW returned for a PP appointment. i saw her again on day 6, at my request, to check my tear b/c i was concerned about the pain.

any other thoughts on this? I think it's important to note that i was healthy, baby was healthy and i had no risk factors other than vbac. had i had health concerns, she may have asked me to do things differently in the post partum hours/days. i also had a lot of family support (my mom was here and she'd had 3 natural births, 2 at home). i think it's great to give moms some "discharge" instructions, but at the same time, i think following too many "standards" can make a mom worry needlessly. i like that my MW came back the next day. 

 

 

Texas77again

lindsey- oh, it was good when you said that you had a healthy baby and lots of support, that does make a big difference.  i think i would recommend different things if the mom didn't have support...etc. 

and i should have said that when i have moms checking themselves and their babies it is not quite so rigid as it sounded.  i ask them to do their best to follow the schedule, but if they miss a time or two that is fine. 

wnk1029

Hopefully I'm remembering this all right...

My m/w and her assistant stayed for about an hour after the birth (not sure if they would have stayed longer, but it was midnight and we were all wanting sleep by that point!)  I don't recall all that she checked during that hour, but she did record DS's stats and vital signs then... 

She had a checklist for us of things to look out for the first 24 hours and what to do if any of those things came up, but I don't really recall at this point what was on that list; none if it pertained to us.

When she came back the next evening for our 24-hour postpartum visit, she did ask how many diapers DS went through (pee & poo)... I don't remember what else she checked on him, and then she also checked my fundus, asked about my bleeding (how many pads I had gone through), etc.  She also worked with us on breastfeeding and getting his latch right.

We had six total postpartum visits (1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks, I think)

CTri17

All of this is AFTER they left at about 4 hours post partum

Texas77again:

did your midwives have you record baby's vital signs? yes  if so, how often? 2-3x before they came back 24 hours later

were you required to check your own vital signs? yes, my temp

did that include checking your fundus and bleeding? yes

what other things were you required to check for yourself and baby? making sure she passed the meconium (which she didn't and we had to go see the pedi, but she must have passed it on her way out, all was fine), I was given PP instructions for amount of blood and how it should change into lochia over the next few weeks

when did your midwives come back to your house for the postpartum appt and how many did you get? 24 hours pp, would have been 48 hours pp but we did a pedi check instead, 72 hour pp (switched from 48 hours), then a 1 week, 2 week and 6 week check up at her office

any other thoughts on this?

 

 

I'm sure I'm missing some stuff but my m/w was great with making sure we felt prepared

Also she controlled my pp bleeding (which was a little heavier than she would have liked) with an herbal tincture taken 2x which caused me to not have to have any pitocin

Temp34783000004059

Texas77again:

did your midwives have you record baby's vital signs?  if so, how often? 

I remember being asked to check his temperature and record his feedings and diapers. I can't remember how often.

were you required to check your own vital signs? 

I checked my temperature and bleeding, and in general was asked how I was feeling. They asked me to be aware of my energy levels, notify them of dizziness or increase in bleeding, and try to lounge all day with the baby and let people take care of me.

did that include checking your fundus and bleeding? 

Bleeding, yes. I couldn't feel my fundus. I hardly bled at all post-birth unless I was up a lot being active, which sometimes happened since my hubby only got 1 day off after the birth (teacher) and we had a baby who was about to turn 2 at home.

what other things were you required to check for yourself and baby?

Diapers, track feeding, and just general overall well-being.

when did your midwives come back to your house for the postpartum appt and how many did you get?

They came back the next day, which was when they recognized that his 'conehead' was actually a cephalohematoma, so they sent me to the Pedi. They also came back 3 days and 1 week later. They called me at least once per day to check up on how I was doing and how baby was.

any other thoughts on this?

The fundus can be hard to check if mom is at all overweight, at least in my experience. I liked being taught how to keep tabs on the other things, though. I think when you choose a homebirth you are assuming and accepting a certain level of control and responsibility over the care and well-being of yourself and your baby, so as long as you (MW) fully explain what you want the parents keeping track of it's a great idea. I also think one of the MOST appealing things about homebirth to me was my MW coming back and calling to check in on me. I felt extremely loved and cared for because of that consistent level of support after my baby was born.

 

 

mesr

my mw and her assistant stayed for three hours after dd's birth.  they did not ask me to check my vital signs or dd's vital signs.  i had a postpartum visit the next day and also on the third day after the birth.  i think they asked me to check my fundus, but i couldn't figure out where it was (i think my uterus tilted back pretty quickly).  i was also asked to call if i passed any large clots. 

dd had her first pediatrician two days after the birth, so the pediatrician took over her care from there.

barnwife

Texas77again:

did your midwives have you record baby's vital signs?  if so, how often?  No.

were you required to check your own vital signs?  No.

did that include checking your fundus and bleeding?  We did check fundus/bleeding.

what other things were you required to check for yourself and baby? None that I remember.

when did your midwives come back to your house for the postpartum appt and how many did you get? Hmmmm...they stay at least 2 hours after the birth. (They were here for about 4 hours after J. was born.) He was born late Friday night. They generally come back 24 hours later, but asked if they could hold off until Sunday morning. That was fine with us (who wants visitors at 11 pm?).

They also came back at 3 days pp, 1 week pp, and 2 weeks pp. I don't think they came back at 4 weeks, but they might have. Our final visit was the 6 week pp visit. They came to my house for all visits. (Normally, the 6 week visit is at her office. But we live literally 2 minutes away from the office. And she had to drive by to go somewhere else. So she just stopped in rather than me packing up baby.)

any other thoughts on this?

My midwife gave us a very detailed info. packet for immediate pp care/what to expect. It was very nice to have. She also gave me an herbal mix to use in the bath to promote pp healing, as well as one to make a gauze packet with and put on top of my giant pads. Both were amazing. And it was nice to have an excuse to take a long, luxurious hot bath during those first days.

 

christina627

I ended up being induced and in the hospital, but planned a HB and some of the questions still apply. 

I've never heard of anyone having to check their own vitals. 

We did skin to skin and tried nursing right away.  They did the apgars, but waited a little bit (we asked) to take him to be weighed and measured.  If we'd been at home we probably would have had more time alone before that happened.  The nurses/doc cleaned up everything (including wiping DS's first poop off of me ...he pooped as DH was handing him to me (he caught the legs...he wanted to catch, but was too busy helping me focus that I had to push him down there to catch the legs).  They measured blood loss (also done by MW if at home), let me deliver placenta without help...other than catching it...and stitched me up (1st degree tear, 4 stitches) and I didn't notice much of that, I was too wrapped up in my new baby.  My MW stayed for about half an hour (normally stays for at least 4 hours) bc she had someone else in labor and I was doing fine in the hospital.

Later, I was briefly checked (quick glace) by the on call OB (the one I had was doing a C-sec) and sent home 12 hours after the birth.  I had two PP checks with  MW and assistant in the first week and another one at like 2 weeks.  The first was like 24 hours -36 hours after birth...did heel prick and checked to see if my uternus was going down.  Second was a few days later.

We didn't get Vit K shot or eye stuff at the hospital...we declined...we didn't have circ done so we didn't need Vit K.

christina627

She did ask us questions about diapers, feeding, bleeding, etc and gave us a packet of what to expect.

LindseyJW

Texas77again:

lindsey- oh, it was good when you said that you had a healthy baby and lots of support, that does make a big difference.  i think i would recommend different things if the mom didn't have support...etc. 

and i should have said that when i have moms checking themselves and their babies it is not quite so rigid as it sounded.  i ask them to do their best to follow the schedule, but if they miss a time or two that is fine. 

yep, having/not having support is definitely a game changer. i should also add that this was not my first baby, so i already knew to note output, feeding patterns, etc. she did ask me about that, as well as bleeding, cramping, other things that i can't remember when she came back the next day.

i should also add that i had placenta smoothies!!!!! which improved my pp healing process, reduced bleeding and helped the fundus return to normal size.

i'll also clarify my concern: i see a lot of moms (on the boards and IRL) who are already anxious about output, temperature, heart tones, blood pressure, bleeding, sleep and feeding patterns, etc. i bet that fewer homebirth moms would have such anxieties, but i can see moms (especially first time moms) becoming more anxious about such measurements. it's a thin line, b/c on the one hand, you (parents) need to look for abnormal behaviors or health indicators, but what is normal? they would first need to understand what normal is, but then we've introduced standards and with standards there are always outliers. outliers freak parents out.

goodheartedmommy

My midwife stayed for at least 4 hours...maybe a little more. She definitely stayed through my first shower. She did all of the checks, made sure DD nursed several times. She came the next day, and then the next, as my milk comes in quickly and I got mastitis. We had a 2 w, 4 w, 6 w, and 8 w pp check, I think. Obviously I was told to call whenever, and she even counseled me several times with breastfeeding problems and came to my house when DD was 10.5 months old to talk me through some depression/breastfeeding problems. She's absolutely wondeful

This was my third child, so obviously she didn't need to tell me to keep an eye on wet diapers, etc.