What it is
This is the page to screenshot. It is every postpartum emergency and every call-today sign in one place
More than half of the deaths linked to pregnancy in the United States happen after the birth, from the first day out to a year. The CDC's review committees found that more than eight in ten were preventable. The main causes after birth are heart problems, infection, heavy bleeding, blood clots, high blood pressure, and mental health crises. Each has signs.
What's typical
Nurses teach a list called POST-BIRTH. The first four letters are call 911: Pain in the chest. Obstructed breathing, meaning you cannot catch your breath. Seizures. Thoughts of harming yourself or the baby. The rest are call your provider today: Bleeding that soaks a pad in an hour or clots the size of an egg or bigger. Incision that is not healing. Red or swollen leg that hurts or is warm. Temperature of 100.4 or more. Headache that does not get better, or with vision changes.
That list covers hemorrhage, clots, infection, preeclampsia, heart trouble, and psychosis.
What's known
The AWHONN POST-BIRTH program, the CDC's Hear Her campaign, and ACOG all say the same two things. Tell whoever you talk to that you recently had a baby, including the date, because emergency staff may not think of it. And do not wait to be sure.
What helps
- Print this list and put it on the fridge. Give one to your partner and anyone staying with you. They may notice before you do.
- Save these in your phone now: your provider's after-hours line, the labor and delivery unit, 911, 988 for crisis, and the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-852-6262.
- Say the sentence first: 'I had a baby on this date.' Then say what is wrong.
When to call someone
- Now (911): chest pain, cannot breathe, a seizure, thoughts of harming yourself or the baby, fainting, or confusion.
- Now (go in): bleeding that soaks a pad an hour for two hours, clots bigger than an egg, a severe headache that does not ease, vision changes, pain under the right ribs, or a blood pressure of 160 over 110 or higher.
- Now (go in): one swollen, painful, or warm leg, or sudden shortness of breath.
- Todaya temperature of 100.4 or more, an incision or tear that is red, leaking, or opening, discharge that smells foul, burning with peeing plus back pain, a hot red patch on a breast, or a blood pressure of 140 over 90 or higher.
- Todaytwo nights without sleep and feeling wired, or feeling too low or anxious to care for yourself or the baby.
- At your next visiteverything that is not on this list.
Who helps
Tools: Postpartum Prep Checklist · My Birth Team
Related
- Postpartum preeclampsia: the warning signsPostpartum: Your Body
- Signs of infection after birthPostpartum: Your Body
- Blood clots: the signs to knowPostpartum: Your Body
- Postpartum bleeding (lochia): what's normal, what's notPostpartum: Your Body
- When to get help, and who to call tonightPostpartum: Mind
What mothers here say
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Experiences and questions are their authors' own, not reviewed advice. The topic's steward lists the ones that help most in a credited digest once there is one. Unusual experiences stay, with a note.
Sources
- Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses — POST-BIRTH Warning Signs education program and patient handout
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Hear Her campaign: urgent maternal warning signs
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Pregnancy-related deaths: data from Maternal Mortality Review Committees
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Committee opinion on optimizing postpartum care
Sources are named, not yet linked. The steward verifies each one and adds the link.
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