Postpartum Care

A Healthy Fourth Trimester

The childbearing year is really four trimesters, with the last one, the postpartum period, often being where the midwifery model shines the brightest.

In obstetrical settings, many mothers find a gap in care when it comes to their postpartum time, and report feeling adrift without much guidance or proper support, right when they need it most.

Midwives naturally default to practices that enhance connection and honor the physiologic birth process.

A newborn baby breastfeeding in the arms of a mother seen wearing black briefs and guiding the baby in a good latch.

Postpartum Care at Your Bedside Includes:

  • Helping you file for a birth certificate and Social Security Number for your baby

  • Newborn metabolic screening (State of Alaska’s “Bloodspot” testing)

  • Critical congenital heart disease screening (using pulse oximetry)

  • Lactation support and monitoring breast health as your milk comes in

  • Well-newborn care, including tracking growth and weight, checking on feeding and elimination, and monitoring well-being during baby’s exquisite transition to extrauterine life

  • Education on infant care

  • Helping to process and navigate the emotional experience of giving birth and becoming a family

  • Monitoring your physical healing progress and recovery

  • Providing any necessary laboratory tests

  • RhoGAM, if appropriate for Rh-negative mothers

  • Referrals for any needs that may arise which fall outside of the midwifery scope

A new father with a beard and mustache and eyes closed lying on a bed while holding a sleeping baby dressed in a yellow outfit.

Postpartum care takes place at your home, in order to best facilitate rest and recovery. I come to you multiple times in the first six weeks after your baby is born, to ensure that breastfeeding gets off to a good start and that healing is on the right track.

Typical Visit Schedule:

24-36 hours after birth
Between days 3-5
One week
Two weeks
Four weeks
Six weeks