Postnatal care

Postnatal is the period immediately after the birth of your baby.

After the birth of your baby, you will receive immediate postnatal care on the labour ward. The care for you and your baby will then be transferred to one of our postnatal wards where midwives, maternity support workers and nursery nurses will support you to care for your baby. In some cases, a doctor may also be involved in the care for you and your baby.

Our postnatal services include:

• Helping people who have had a caesarean section recover from their operation including help with moving around.
• Care and support from experienced midwives and neonatologists (doctors who specialise in new born babies), for mothers with new born babies who may need antibiotics, treatment for jaundice, or breastfeeding support, including breastfeeding information sessions by our infant feeding specialist team.
• Specialist women's health physiotherapy.
• Regular reviews by our obstetric doctors for women and birthing people needing specialist care after the birth of their baby.
• Anaesthetic follow-up care for woman and birthing people who had epidural in labour. BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccination to protect your baby from tuberculosis.
• New born baby and infant physical examinations by specialist midwives.

Guidelines for visiting and infection prevention and control.

Read our most up to date visiting guidelines on the maternity patient information page. 

Caring for your baby when they are crying – support from the ICON Programme

Caring for a newborn can be overwhelming, especially when they're crying. It’s normal for parents to feel stressed or frustrated during these times, and it’s important to recognise that these feelings are normal.

The ICON programme is designed to support you with simple, effective strategies to manage your baby’s crying. Through ICON, you’ll have access to a range of valuable resources, including:

• Soothing techniques to calm your baby
• Advice on healthy sleep routines
• Guidance on the importance of taking breaks when you need them
• Advice on keeping your baby safe while they’re crying
• Reassurance that infant crying is a normal part of early childhood development

These resources are here to help you feel more confident and supported in caring for your baby. You can view them here.

If you have any concerns about your new baby or need more advice, don’t hesitate to speak with a midwife, health visitor, or your GP.