Postnatal Care at home

If you had your baby at home

If you had your baby at home and there are no complications, you will stay at home. Your midwife will make you comfortable, complete any documentation and听give you emergency numbers to call听before leaving. You will then have telephone contact from a community midwife later that day or the following day depending on the time of birth.

Community Maternity Care once home

When mothers go home from the maternity unit, their care is transferred to their community midwifery team which is normally the same team that provided their antenatal care.

Occasionally if a family live outside of these areas, you may find that the postnatal care is provided by a different trust. If this applies to you then this will be discussed with you on an individual basis.

The community midwifery teams provide a range of care to ensure the well-being of the mother and baby such as physical and emotional checks, screening and infant feeding support.

The day after discharge from Salisbury Hospital, every family will receive a phone call from a midwife. These calls will always be made from an unknown or withheld number so it is vital that your mobile phones remain charged, on and that these calls are answered. During this call your ongoing plan of postnatal care will be made with you which may include further phone calls, visits to your local community midwifery hub, Salisbury Hospital or occasionally a home visit.

As a minimum you can expect contact with your community midwifery team the day after you go home from the hospital, and then again around days 5 and 10. Care can be provided for longer if needed and this is discussed with you on an individual basis. At this point, care is transferred from the midwife to a health visitor who will arrange to visit you at your home between 11-14 days after birth.

Each community team has a maternity care assistant that help to provide postnatal care under the supervision of midwives and you should expect to see them at least once during your postnatal journey with us.

All mothers will be provided with a telephone number for contacting a midwife should advice be required.

After birth, your baby will be offered several different types of health assessments. If you have any concerns about the screenings, speak to your midwife, health visitor or GP.

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Newborn and Infant Physical Examination (NIPE)

Whilst in hospital, you should have been be offered an initial full physical examination. The NIPE is a more detailed examination of your newborn's eyes, heart, hips and in boys, their testes. This examination is repeated by your GP when your baby is between six and eight weeks of age, as some conditions do not develop or become visible until then.

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Newborn blood spot screening

When your baby is around 5 days old, they will be offered a newborn blood spot screening (also known as the 'heel prick' test). A blood sample from your baby鈥檚 foot will be used to find out if your baby has any of the following rare but serious health conditions:

Sickle cell disease
Cystic fibrosis
Congenital hypothyroidism
Inherited metabolic disorders: - phenylketonuria (PKU) - medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD) - maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) - isovaleric acidaemia (IVA) - glutaric aciduria type 1 (GA1) - homocystinuria (pyridoxine unresponsive) (HCU)

for more information on these health conditions

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Newborn hearing screening

The hearing screening will be offered to your baby, when you are at home, or you will be invited to attend a clinic appointment. Ideally, the screening test should be done in the first 4 to 5 weeks, but it can be done at any time, up to 3 months of age. The screen will be completed by maternity care assistants, nurses or other health professionals who have completed specialist training.

A baby screened under the 'well baby protocol' has a 1 to 2 in 1000 chance of having a permanent hearing loss in one or both ears. For a well baby screen, a screener will complete an AOAE screen. The AOAE (Automated Otoacoustic Emission) takes a few minutes. A small soft tipped earpiece is placed in your baby鈥檚 ear and soft clicking sounds are played. When an ear receives sound, the inner part (called the cochlea) responds and this can be picked up by the screening equipment.

It is not always possible to get clear responses from the first screening test. This does not necessarily mean your baby has a hearing loss. It can mean:

your baby was unsettled when the test was done
there was background noise
your baby has fluid or a temporary blockage in their ear 鈥� this is very common and passes with time
your baby has a hearing loss

In these cases, your baby will be offered another screening test. This will be the same as the first screen but has to be completed at least 5 hours after the first screen. If a no clear response is not obtained second time around, then another type of screen called an AABR (Automated Auditory Brainstem Response) will be offered.听

This involves 3 small sensors being placed on your baby鈥檚 forehead, back of the neck and shoulder. Soft headphones are placed over your baby鈥檚 ears and soft clicking sounds are played. The screening equipment will be able to tell if your baby鈥檚 hearing nerve responds to the sounds. If a no clear response is obtained at AABR, then a referral to audiology is completed for diagnostic testing. Audiology will be able to determine if your baby has a hearing loss or not.

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To read more about screenings for you and your baby, visit GOV.UK for and .

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