Most of what your body goes through after giving birth is normal and will settle. But one group of complications appears once the mother is home, and they arrive fast. According to CDC, the warning signs that mean seeking medical care right away can appear at any time within a year of giving birth — not only in the first days in hospital.
This page is not selling postnatal care: we do not take on maternity care or care of new mothers at home. This is safety information for new mothers and their families; where you are followed up after birth is the maternity service.
Recognising it: what is common, and what is not
Knowing the normal is what lets you see the abnormal. According to MedlinePlus, after birth you will have bleeding or blood-stained discharge like a period, on and off, for about six weeks; your legs and feet may swell, and you may be constipated; your breasts will be full, tender and may leak milk even if you are not breastfeeding. According to NHS, the bleeding is heaviest at first, then turns gradually brown, lessens and stops.
- Cramping low in the abdomen in waves, more noticeable while feeding — the womb is contracting back down.
- Stitches or a caesarean wound still sore. According to NHS, most people who have had a caesarean are sore for the first few days, and some have pain lasting a few weeks.
Easily confused: three things often taken for normal
- A HEADACHE that will not go or is getting worse, with blurred vision. According to NHS, a headache with changes in vision and vomiting points towards pre-eclampsia — a condition that also happens AFTER birth. It often gets put down to lack of sleep.
- PAIN, SWELLING or REDNESS in ONE calf. According to NHS this points towards a blood clot in the leg; chest pain with breathlessness points towards a blood clot in the lung. Both legs swelling equally is common, one side differing from the other is not.
- EXHAUSTION out of the ordinary. CDC puts extreme tiredness on its list of warning signs, but everyone is tired after a birth, so it tends to be dismissed.
What to do now
- Keep the follow-up appointment. According to NHS, you should have a postnatal check when your baby is six to eight weeks old. Do not cancel because you feel fine.
- Stitches and a caesarean wound: according to NHS, wash perineal stitches every day with clean warm water and pat them dry gently; with a caesarean wound, wash gently and dry it every day, wear loose clothing and cotton underwear.
- Take a pain medicine if you need one. According to NHS, for someone breastfeeding, paracetamol (acetaminophen) or ibuprofen is usually the choice, avoiding aspirin; codeine is usually not advised while breastfeeding. The dose is for a doctor or pharmacist to decide.
- Keep a note of the bleeding: how many pads today, bright red or brown, clots or not.
- According to CDC, when you are seen, say clearly that you gave birth within the past year.
Things you must NOT do
- Do NOT use tampons or put anything into the vagina before the postnatal check. According to NHS, the place where the placenta was attached to the womb is still a wound, and you may also have stitches or grazes.
- Do NOT avoid washing. The NHS guidance is to wash stitches and a caesarean wound EVERY DAY to prevent infection, the opposite of the custom of not bathing. No source in this article recommends lying over coals or steaming in a closed room; if someone at home is insisting on it, ask a doctor or midwife first.
- Do NOT lift anything heavy, drive or exercise soon after a caesarean: according to NHS that is about six weeks, and nothing heavier than the baby.
- Do NOT take medicines to stop bleeding, or herbal preparations, to “clean out” the discharge.
- Do NOT wait for the appointment once a sign in the box below has appeared. Appointments are for when things are fine.
- Do NOT explain it away to yourself. According to CDC their list does not cover every symptom: if something does not feel right, or you are not sure whether it is serious, tell a health professional.
When you must go to hospital
GO TO EMERGENCY CARE or call 115 (the emergency number in Vietnam) NOW if there is: sudden heavy or very heavy vaginal bleeding, especially with faintness, fainting or a racing heart; chest pain or a pounding heart; difficulty breathing; seizures; a headache that will not go or is getting worse, with blurred or altered vision, or vomiting; a fever of 38°C or above, especially with a tender abdomen; severe abdominal pain that does not let up; severe repeated vomiting; swelling, redness or pain in ONE leg or arm; marked swelling of the face or of both hands; dizziness, fainting; a caesarean wound or stitches leaking pus or foul-smelling fluid; thoughts of harming yourself or of harming the baby. According to CDC this group of signs means seeking medical care RIGHT AWAY, and they can appear at any time within a year of giving birth. — BE SEEN WITHIN 24–72 HOURS if: you pass large clots; the bleeding becomes heavier again after having lessened, or the discharge smells unusual; stitches or the caesarean wound become red, swollen or more painful; you have difficulty passing urine, pain on passing it, or leaking urine; you feel sad, anxious, or worried about your own mental health. — If you are unsure, ring and ask before deciding on your own.
Y Te Xanh (GreenCare) does not take on maternity care or care of new mothers at home, and none of our services replaces your postnatal check. What we can do is different: a remote consultation by video call about a question outside obstetrics, and a doctor coming to the house to take a history, examine, and say clearly which cases must be admitted. With a sign in the box above, go in first and ring afterwards.
The list of warning signs, the fever threshold, the span of a year after birth and the reminder to say that you have recently given birth follow the public materials of the US CDC for new mothers. The course of the bleeding, caring for stitches and a caesarean wound, pain relief while breastfeeding, the timing of the postnatal check and the conditions named above follow NHS; the common changes after birth follow MedlinePlus.
This article passes those on and does not replace being examined. Citing CDC here does not imply that CDC endorses Y Te Xanh or our services.
Need personalised advice for your loved one? Call our hotline 094 368 81 15 (24/7) — calling to ask a question or to book costs nothing. GreenCare has doctors who come to examine, nurses who carry out doctor's orders (injections, infusions, dressing changes), remote consultation by video call, and a review of the medicines you are taking; an in-depth remote consultation, or any one after the first, is a paid service. For children we take examination and acute care only — not long-term care at home, and not newborns or expectant mothers. We confirm we have staff in your area and provide transparent pricing before we begin.
