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The birth is over and you’re at home with your beautiful
but worrying bundle. Who do you call when you just
don’t know what to do with your baby?
The BBC drama
Call the Midwife! was one
of the channel’s biggest
hits for years when it aired
early in 2012, showing
just how fascinated we are
by midwives and the vital
role they play during the
pregnancy, birth and first
week or so of your new child’s
life. But then they hand over to
the health visitor, so what do
the two professionals do and
when do you call one… or the
other?
its pre-pregnancy size, and
taking your blood pressure
• giving advice on common
and minor health issues such
as postnatal constipation
• helping with feeding
difficulties
• ensuring that the family is
happy and adjusting well.
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They are there to help you
with any problems you may
encounter when raising your
child, most commonly at special
baby and child clinics run in your
GP’s practice or at children’s
centres. The sort of issues they
can help with include:
• postnatal depression and
the ‘Baby Blues’ – by helping
You should be given the
to assess whether you
community midwives’ number
are at risk and to provide
for any questions you might
information and support,
have or concerns you want to
often in the form of informal
raise. New parents can often
counselling
be anxious and midwives are
• difficulty with crying, feeding
happy to provide a reassuring
The early days…
and sleeping
service before discharging you • behavioural problems in
midwife care
in a couple of weeks’ time.
After nine months of
toddlers, such as tantrums
pregnancy the midwife will be
• potty training
Handing over to the health
a familiar figure to you but the
• referrals to other healthcare
visitor
job she does from now on will
professionals, where
After 10 to 14 days, you will
be rather different. For the first
necessary
usually then be referred on to
ten days or so after the birth
• general health and wellbeing
your GP practice’s health visitor
of your child, the community
questions.
midwife team will be your first – a nurse who has undergone
Over the years, you and your
extra training to specialise in
port of call for minor matters
child will get to know your
relating to the health of mother the physical, emotional and
health visitor pretty well and
social development of children hopefully will build up a good
and child.
and babies. They are able to
Someone from the team will
relationship, so it is important
provide support and advice
call around on most days to
to feel comfortable with them.
to you at any time until your
see how everyone is doing.
If for any reason you are not
child is five and support the
This includes:
happy, talk to your GP practice
• assessing how well your baby wellbeing of babies and their
and ask for another person to
families.
is doing by checking their
take over your care.
weight and seeing if there are
signs of jaundice, as well as
FURTHER
doing any standard checks
and tests
INFORMATION
• seeing how mum is doing by
checking her stitches, feeling
www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
if the uterus has returned to
www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/familyinformation