Parent and Baby

After nine months of regular prenatal visits to the ob-gyne clinic, most new moms are relieved. However, new moms must know that the first few weeks postpartum are very critical and stressful. This is because the new mom is still adjusting to her post-delivery figure, mental and physical well being in addition to that of her newborn.

Included in a new mom’s hospital discharge instructions are some instructions on how to take care of the newborn and the first visit to the pediatrician. Included also in this set of instructions is the first mom’s visit to the ob-gyne postpartum. This first postpartum visit is crucial and critical in the sense that the proper healing process of the woman’s body postpartum is gauged on the result of the doctor’s findings during this visit. A lot of women are swapped over by the fatigue with the delivery of her baby, taking care of her newborn on top of the parade of visitors. It can be hard sometimes to remember all your appointments. The key here is to keep a planner and ask your husband or somebody you can trust to remind you of your appointments. He can then make the necessary appointments to be scheduled and most importantly, to remind you of it.

So what can a woman expect on her first postpartum doctor’s visit? Doctors generally do a breast exam, abdominal exam to make sure the uterus is returning back to normal, look on the outside of the perineum, particularly if stitches had to be used and make sure the cervix is back where it should be. Questions are asked about urination, bowel movements and look for signs of postpartum depression. Birth control options are also discussed during this visit if it has not been discussed during the prenatal visits. However, if the mother is considering tubal ligation, consent for the surgery should be signed well before the delivery date.

Postpartum visits are different from patient to patient depending on the type of delivery and any complications from it. The usual interval between a normal vaginal delivery and the postpartum checkup is six weeks. Moms who have delivered via C-section have to follow a different schedule. Most obstetricians request to see their C-section patients about two weeks after the operation. This visit is intended to inspect the wound for infection and proper healing, remove any exposed stitches, staples or steri-strips if necessary and address any questions or issues the patient may have. Then they usually return for a full postpartum exam four to six weeks later provided there are no more complications like an infection.

It can be easy for a mom to lose herself with the deludge of postpartum activities but she should nor forget her first postpartum visit because this visit is very crucial and critical.