Finally: your baby is born! Congratulations!
You just gave birth, became parents, everything is new (again) and tensive. It can be a lot: learning to know your new baby, uncertainty, a lack of sleep, progressing the delivery and the recovery of giving birth. Shortly: this week can be overwhelming. We help you forward, together with the kraamzorg!
Kraamzorg
In the Netherlands we work with a unique post partum system: de kraamzorg. It’s not a possibility to stay in the hospital post partum. That means that you go home whenever your condition and your baby’s condition will allow this. For the first 8-10 days post partum you will have a kraamzorg at home. She is a nurse and she will provide you of medical checks and of all the information you need in the first days. She will also assist you with feeding your baby.
You need to arrange kraamzorg before week 16 of the pregnancy. We like to work with de Kraamvogel, De Waarden, House of Care and Kraamzorg Professionals.
Post partum care of the midwife
We will visit you regularly in the first 8-12 days after the birth of your baby. The kraamverzorgster will support you and will provide you of medical checks. Together we will keep an eye on your recovery and the baby’s condition.
We will check if your uterus will return to it’s normal shape, if the bloodloss is normal and how the stitches heal when you have these. Of course there will also be enough attention for your emotions.
The baby will lose weight in the first days: this is normal but we don’t want that the baby will lose to much weight. If your breastfeeding we keep a close eye if the mothermilk will come in and if feeding feels comfortable.
With our postnatal care we can recognize risks in an early stage and in most cases prevent a lot of complications.
Consultatiebureau
When you applied your baby at the city hall, the nurse of the consultatiebureau will come by between day 4 and 8 for the heel prick and hearscreening. After the first week they will take over the care from us.
The first six weeks
The first six weeks we are still responsible for you. Do you have questions about bloodloss, cramps or stitches then you contact us. Also for questions about breastfeeding you can always contact the lactation consultant. After 3 weeks we will have an appointment by phone to hear how you’re doing and we will invite you to come by for a last check around 6 weeks post partum. This last check is meant to estimate your recovery, but of course we would love to see your baby as well! We will discuss how you experience parenthood. If you want we will check your iron and bloodpressure. We will also feel if your abdominal muscles are feeling normal, this is important before you restart sportive activities. We will also talk about contraception. Finally we will give you advises for the next pregnancy or delivery depending on your obstetric anamnesis.