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Some areas of this site, including Our Services, are still under development.
Your feedback will help us to improve this site.
See GP or Midwife today if mum has:
Call 999 if mum has:
If you are unable to contact your GP or Midwife for a priority appointment the same day, use your out of hours GP service or attend the Urgent and Emergency Care Centre at Rotherham Hospital.
If you are unable to be seen within the next 4 hours contact Wharncliffe ward for advice.
This can continue for a number of weeks following childbirth.
Contact your GP or midwife if:
It can be normal to pass small clots. Clots should be no bigger than a 50 pence coin. If the clots are larger than this contact your midwife as soon as possible.
If any clots are passed:
Hygiene is really important.
Additional information
Vaginal soreness is normal. What can help:
Rotherham Hospital Perineal Clinic:
Contact your GP or midwife if:
Avoid the use of ‘donut’ rings.
Try to wear loose clothing (no tight jeans or thongs).
Rest lying down when able (this can relieve the pressure from your perineum).
Expose your perineum to air after drying following a bath or shower.
See pelvic floor exercises below.
Note and report any signs of infection to your GP or midwife. Signs of infection include:
If you have any fever, shivering or a high temperature (more than 38 degrees celsius) contact your GP or midwife urgently as you may need treatment. Maternity Triage or NHS 111 should be contacted through the night.
Most women buy over the counter analgesia such as paracetamol and ibuprofen if further analgesia is needed after hospital prescription medicines run out. If you need stronger analgesia contact your GP or midwife.
Pelvic floor exercises strengthen the muscles around your bladder, vagina and back passage. This can help to stop incontinence, treat prolapse and make sex better too.
You can do this exercise lying down, sitting or standing. With practice, it can be done anywhere and at any time - even while you’re watching TV.
In the past, women were taught to practice these squeezes while urinating (having a wee). This isn’t the best way to do these exercises because you may not empty your bladder completely.
Have contraception in place before you need it.
Take time to enjoy your new baby. They need your love and attention.
Your body needs to recuperate after birth. Sexual intercourse after birth may not be comfortable. If it is painful, stop and try again at a later date. If problems persist contact your GP or the Sexual Health department on telephone 01709 427777.
A Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is a blood clot that commonly forms in the veins of the lower leg or calf. The blood clot may break away and travel to the lungs (Pulmonary Embolus or PE) or the brain and this is very dangerous.
Risk factors include:
Help reduce your risk by:
If you have multiple risk factors further treatment may include:
Signs of a DVT/PE require urgent medical attention:
It is important that any medication prescribed and given to you is taken correctly and the course completed.
The following three medications need to be completed to avoid complications:
In the first few weeks after birth you may find that you think about what happened during labour and birth again and again to try to make sense of it all.
Sometimes remembering things that happened can be distressing and you may experience unusual feelings, flashbacks and nightmares. This is quite normal as your body and mind adjust after childbirth and these feelings usually fade away within 4-6 weeks.
You may find it helpful to talk to family, friends, or your community midwife or health visitor, about your birth. These conversations help to naturally process in your mind what has happened and people often find this is enough to help them make sense of their experience.
If symptoms like flashbacks are not stopping, or you have any unanswered questions or unresolved feelings following your birth experience, please speak with one of our specialist midwives.
You can contact the service directly by emailing rgh-tr.birthinmindservice@nhs.net or by leaving a message on the voicemail service on 01709 427123 and someone from the team will contact you. Or you can speak to your GP or health visitor who can refer you to this service on your behalf.
This can start from day three and can last for up to two weeks.
These symptoms can be normal
Things that will help:
If baby blues doesn’t seem to be lifting after two weeks, or you are feeling concerned about your mental wellbeing, speak to your midwife, health visitor or GP.
The baby blues is not an illness and should settle without any treatment.
This affects 1 in 10 women; occurs two to eight weeks after birth and lasts longer than two weeks. It is an illness.
Symptoms include:
Ask your midwife about local support groups. Speak to your GP about your symptoms as it is easily treated with talking therapies/medicines.
This is an emergency and needs urgent referral to a specialist.
See your GP or midwife today if your baby:
Call 999 if your baby:
Babies feed frequently. The first sign of an unwell baby is a baby who will not wake for feeds or refuses to feed.
Rashes in babies are very common and come and go. If the rash persists or a rash is noted and baby is unwell seek medical advice.
Jaundice causes baby’s skin and the whites of their eyes to become yellow. This is due to a breakdown of excess red blood cells that the baby does not need.
Midwifery staff assess babies for jaundice at each visit. Any baby with jaundice over 24 hours old will have their level of jaundice checked with a machine. If the reading is high, baby will need a review in hospital by a paediatrician.
We encourage you to feed your baby frequently. Feed your baby when they wake for feeds. In the first few days some babies may need to be woken for feeds. Feeding flushes out the bilirubin (from the breakdown of red blood cells that baby no longer needs). Bilirubin is passed out of the body in wee and poo. If bilirubin is left to build up, it can cause baby to become sleepy and then baby could become ill.
If you are concerned about your babies colour, poor feeding or a sleepy baby then contact your midwife.
The safest place for your baby to sleep is in their own crib or cot.
At home the midwife or midwifery support worker will undertake a safe sleeping assessment and will ask to be shown where your baby will be sleeping during the day and at night. This is only to offer guidance on the safest way for your baby to sleep.
Follow up assessments may be needed if any risks are identified. These may be carried out by the health visitor or midwife.
All breastfeeding mothers will have received information and support on how to position and attach baby to the breast, to always offer the second breast, to feed 8-12 times in 24 hours, how to express breast milk and about responsive feeding.
Formula feeding mothers will have received information and support on how to make up feeds, what type of formula to use, how to feed baby and responsive feeding.
All babies are weighed on day 3 and day 5 after birth and again a few days later before discharge from midwifery services. Babies are usually weighed on a monthly basis after they have gained their birth weight (more frequent if a problem is identified).
Babies are able to sense a mother's anxiousness, therefore your partner or mum may be able to settle your baby if your are stressed. If settling through the night keep lights and sounds low so baby learns the difference between day and night. Babies are often unsettled in the evenings.
If colic is going to develop, this usually starts within the first few weeks and stops around 4 months.
By law all children under the age of 12 or 135cms (whichever comes first) must travel in the correct child car seat even for short journeys.
The T.I.C.K.S rules for babywearing, produced by the UK Sling Consortium, advises how to safely carry your baby in a sling.
To register the birth, make an appointment at Riverside House (Monday to Friday). You can either phone for appointment on 01709 823543 or book online. You need to bring baby's red book as well as other documentation. See the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council's website for details.
Child benefit forms can be found in the Bounty Pack.
Child tax credit office contact details: 0345 300 3900
Healthy Start Vouchers: Complete the form found in the booklet (See leaflet for inclusion criteria)
A Community Midwife will visit the day after your discharge from hospital (9am to 5pm). If they have not attended by 4pm, please call 01709 424348.
A health visitor will see you at home from 10 days after the birth of your baby.
Wharncliffe Ward
24 hours
Telephone: 01709 424348
Labour Ward
24 hours
Telephone: 01709 424491
Midwifery Triage
7am to 7pm
Telephone: 01709 427700
Greenoaks
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Telephone: 01709 424513
Sexual Health Services
Telephone: 01709 427777
Community Midwifery Office
Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm
Telephone: 01709 424058