Postnatal care and counseling

A postnatal period begins immediately after the birth of a child as the mother’s body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state. The terms puerperium or puerperal period, or immediate postpartum period are commonly used to refer to the first six weeks following childbirth. This period marks the establishment of a new phase of family life for women and their partners and the beginning of the lifelong health record for newborn babies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the postnatal period as the most critical and yet the most neglected phase in the lives of mothers and babies; most maternal and newborn deaths occur during the postnatal period. However, all organ systems do not return to baseline within this period and the return to baseline is not necessarily linear over time.

Examination of the mother includes:

• The general perception of the mother, including individual cleanliness.

• The temperature of the body, blood pressure, pulse rate and respiratory pace of the mother.

• The tallness of the uterus is estimated during each visit to recognize involution of the uterus.

• Breast examination to detect any abnormalities such as swollen, cracked nipples, inverted nipples or less flow of milk.

• Detect any signs and symptoms of profound vein thrombosis (blood clumps in the veins of the calf) and Pulmonary Thromboembolism blood cloot in the vessels in the lungs, for example, chest pain , trouble breathing.