After Pregnancy

Special Care After Delivery for Mom and Baby

After nine months caring for yourself to give birth to your baby, the next step is becoming a "full-time mom" learning about after-birth care that you and your baby may need after delivery.

In fact, if you have attended pre-natal classes, you probably have some basics about breastfeeding and other related matters around the first few days with your baby after birth. Classes teach that appropriate care during your pregnancy, and later during labor and delivery, reduce premature death of your baby, but special care may continue for a few days.

After delivery, it is usual that doctors or midwives check the newborn all over, before the baby can go to his mother the first few minutes after birth. Sometimes you or your baby may need some special care as a result of a complication or other condition that developed during pregnancy.

When a problem related to your baby arises, a Pediatrician will check the newborn. He may order that your baby be admitted to a special care nursery, as happens when a premature delivery occurs, in which case, parents are told in advance when the baby has to go to the nursery instead of staying with the mom.

However, parents may not realize this until the moment that it occurs, sometimes it is the mother who needs special care, and the baby is sent to the special care nursery or the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) while the mother's health, the baby's health or both improves.

Special care at hospitals or other childbirth facilities include observation of breathing and behavior, the administration of antibiotic treatment for infections, or treatment for jaundice. Special care areas have low dependency units (LDU) for babies who have recovered from illness, which requires just a bit more attention and feeding.

Depending on the pre-natal classes taken, you could be encouraged to visit a special care nursery and find out if your baby will need to be admitted, and get familiar with the surroundings, including the machinery, to ensure the baby receives the best treatment to survive healthy.

If your doctor has found that you will need special care after delivery, he will explain more concerning the type of care needed and where you will receive this attention. Some women do not show any symptoms that could lead to special care, but after delivery, a mom can suffer postpartum depression that leads her to the special care unit.

Occasionally, mother and baby undergo special care at the same time, but in different units, depending on the condition requiring attention.