Coping After the Delivery

The more you can share your baby’s care, the more you will both enjoy your baby. Your partner may not be able to breast feed, but he can help with bathing, changing and dressing as well as cuddling and playing. He may feel quite nervous of handling the baby and need encouragement.

Home Help

You will probably need a lot of full-time help at first not just with the chores, but also to give you emotional support. You are bound to feel up and down, and get easily tired in the early days. Even with help you will probably feel tired. Cut corners where you can;

• Cut down on household cleaning
• Keep meals simple
• Try to space visitors out
• If you need extra help ask friends and family

Postnatal Depression

Up to 80% of mothers go through a patch of what is known as the “Baby Blues”, often about three or four days after the birth. You may feel very anxious about small things, feel mildly depressed, or just keep bursting into tears for no apparent reason. Baby blues may be caused by hormone changes, tiredness, discomfort from painful stitches or sore breasts, or even a feeling of anti climax after all the excitement. Whatever the cause, you will usually find that it only lasts a few days.

Up to 10% of mothers slide into a depression which may be quite deep. They are taken over by a feeling of hopelessness. They may feel angry, but more often feel too exhausted to be angry or even to cope with the simplest tasks. If you feel like this you should contact your postnatal midwife, general practitioner or specialist obstetrician and explain how you are feeling.

Postnatal Check

The postnatal check occurs around six weeks after the baby’s birth to make sure that you are recovering from the birth as you should. The appointment should be forwarded to you automatically from our rooms, however if you have not heard from us by four weeks post delivery, please contact our receptionist on 375-4060.