Stay in the maternity hospital Rubric. Joint and separate stay in the maternity hospital: pros and cons

Many expectant mothers experience real fear of the maternity hospital. After all, it is a medical institution. And there are few people among us who happily endure hospitalization. In order to somehow dispel the fear of the unknown, it is worth learning more about what you will have to do directly in the maternity hospital, and what should be done in advance.

Before entering the maternity hospital
If you have already chosen a maternity hospital, contact its admissions department or information service and find out what you can/need and cannot bring with you when entering the maternity ward.

In some maternity hospitals, it is allowed, for example, to have a fitball with you - a large rubber ball that will help you take comfortable positions during contractions.

Some maternity hospitals do not allow the use of home clothes during childbirth; only sterile local clothes are allowed. In others, on the contrary, you must have your own nightgown and robe. Thirdly, the woman in labor must have a so-called obstetric package, which includes disposable diapers, shoe covers, a nightgown and a robe.

As soon as you start having regular contractions (with an interval of 15-20 minutes), be sure to take a shower at home and carefully shave your perineum. Remove decorative nail polish. It may prevent the doctor who will monitor your condition during childbirth from correctly assessing the situation. In particular, if for some reason a woman in labor begins to experience hypoxia (oxygen starvation), then the bluish tint of your nails will “signal” this.

Also, be sure to keep your nails short. Immediately after birth, the baby is placed on the mother's stomach. And a baby's skin is very sensitive. And no matter how careful you are, you risk causing even the smallest scratch. And any scratches are an open gate for infection.

From the moment regular contractions begin, do not eat or drink under any circumstances. Firstly, during the process of dilation of the cervix, nausea and vomiting may occur. Secondly, any complication may arise that will require endotracheal anesthesia. And in this case, it is very important that there is no food in the woman’s esophagus and stomach. You can combat the feeling of thirst by regularly moistening your lips with a damp sponge.

In the reception department
You must have replacement shoes with you, as well as all the necessary documents: exchange card, passport, birth certificate, insurance policy and/or birth contract. All these documents are needed to complete the birth history - a special medical record.

In the emergency department, you will be examined on a chair to determine the degree of cervical dilatation. They can also measure pulse, blood pressure and body temperature.

Then you will change into a change of clothes (but not the ones you will give birth in!). Your belongings in which you arrived, as well as your passport and insurance policy, will be given to the person who came with you, or will be placed in a safe. The exchange card and birth certificate are attached to the birth history.

You will then be taken to a sanitary room and given an enema to cleanse your bowels. Here they can shave your crotch if you haven’t done it yourself at home. To do this, it is recommended to have a disposable razor with you. After the enema, you will be taken to the restroom, where you should stay for 20-30 minutes.

You will then be taken to the shower room, after which you will change into your birth clothes.

If you are planning a joint birth, your partner will be taken to a special room where he can change into clean clothes. You also need to find out in advance whether your partner needs to have his own clothes for childbirth, or whether he will be provided with everything he needs in the maternity hospital. He must have a change of shoes and a clean pair of socks with him.

In the prenatal ward
The doctor will examine you again to assess what stage the process is at. Most often, women in labor are advised to take an active position during childbirth: walk, squat, or take any comfortable position. It is necessary to lie down only for examination by a doctor and when installing a cardiotocograph (CTG). This device records the work of the fetal heart and the contractile activity of the uterus. The process takes from 20 to 40 minutes. As a rule, it causes many unpleasant moments for the mother in labor. Proper breathing helps make this “procedure” easier to endure.

Some prenatal wards have special mini-pools or showers, which will also help the woman in labor during labor.
When doctors determine that the cervix is ​​fully dilated (10-12 cm), you will be transferred to the delivery room. If the birth proceeds without complications, then after 10-30 minutes of pushing your baby will be born.

In the postpartum ward
If during childbirth you had an episiotomy (an incision in the perineum) or ruptures occurred and you received stitches, then you should follow some rules. In particular, it is necessary to exclude baked goods, as well as vegetables and fruits from the diet in order to postpone bowel movements for as long as possible. Boiled meat, poultry, fish and broths are welcome.

To prevent infection from getting into the suture sites, it is necessary to carefully observe hygiene and wash the perineum 5-6 times a day. Sanitary pads should be changed as often as possible. Also, sitting position is excluded for 3 weeks. If everything is in order and the stitches do not come apart, then on the 5th day they will be removed.

Each maternity hospital has its own rules for the stay of the baby and mother after birth. In some maternity hospitals, children are brought in for feeding every three hours for 30 minutes. At night, the break is 6 hours: from 00-00 to 6-00.

Other maternity hospitals provide for mother and baby to stay together.
After giving birth, relatives should bring you all the necessary things for your stay in the postpartum ward, including dishes and hygiene products.

You will be visited daily by a neonatologist (children's doctor), to whom you can ask all your questions. The nurse will clean the baby's umbilical cord every day. Doctors will also monitor your health condition.

Before each feeding of your baby, you need to thoroughly wash your hands and breasts. A special nursing bra needs to be changed daily. If your milk leaks, be sure to use special disposable pads.

If your postpartum unit allows family visits, they must also remove their outer clothing before entering the room. Most likely, they will be asked to change into a special robe. And before picking up the baby, the relative needs to wash their hands thoroughly with soap. An unacceptably large number of visitors (you should limit yourself to just your husband). Visitors will only tire you and can bring infection to your baby.

If you and your baby feel well, then on the 3-5th day the issue of your discharge home will be decided. You will have an ultrasound scan in the pelvic area, the specifics of postnatal hygiene will be explained and recommendations on how to care for the baby will be given.

Upon discharge
You will be given an exchange card with two parts filled out. The first will contain information about you and how the birth went (you will give it to the antenatal clinic), the second will contain information about the baby (it is needed at the children's clinic). You will also be given a birth certificate, which you will submit to the registry office to issue a birth certificate for the child.

Based on materials from the site: http://topatun.ru/wait/birth/9214.html

Future mothers, take note of this advice:
Use your time in the maternity hospital after childbirth with maximum benefit for your body - rest every free minute to quickly restore strength and return home cheerful, fresh and full of strength.

While there is such an opportunity, take advantage of the help of the maternity hospital staff, eat properly and regularly, get enough sleep, limit the number of visitors to a minimum - this way you can quickly get rid of fatigue.

Correct organization of such moments will help to restore strength in the maternity hospital after childbirth in the shortest possible time:

Proper nutrition
You established a balanced diet while pregnant; try to maintain these useful skills in the period after the birth of the child: drink the required amount of fluid and eat rationally. To quickly restore strength, you need to eat at least three times a day.

If you are unhappy with the food offered in the maternity hospital, ask your family to cook and bring you dishes that will help diversify your diet. It is important that the food brought is healthy.

Dream
Try to sleep whenever you have a free minute. Always try to find time for this. Over time, you will be able to develop a daily routine according to the child’s biorhythms, but for now, force yourself to sleep while he sleeps, both at night and during the day. Try to limit the number of people visiting you during your holiday by asking your nurse. Even if you can't sleep, relax and just rest in bed.

Sharing a room with a child

Some maternity hospitals practice 24-hour cohabitation between mother and child. However, there are also special rooms for babies, where, at your request, they can temporarily place your baby, giving you time to rest. Whether you take advantage of this opportunity or not depends on your desire and general condition. Fatigue after a difficult birth can pose a great threat to the further well-being and mental state of a woman who has just given birth.

Ask the maternity hospital staff to bring your baby to you at night for breastfeeding. Even the fact that you don't have to get out of bed at night to change your baby's diaper will give you the opportunity to get a better rest during the night. If you do not want your baby to be supplemented with formula at night, tell your baby's nurse about this.

Still, try to spend at least one night in the maternity hospital with your baby. If you have any doubts at this time, the Nurses will provide the necessary support and teach you the necessary skills so that you can feel confident at home.

Visits at the maternity hospital

Without a doubt, you will want to present your newly born baby to your family and friends. However, in the maternity hospital after giving birth, natural fatigue will be your constant companion; you will not always feel ready to communicate and receive guests. Sometimes you simply don’t have the energy and time to meet visitors.

Please note that some visits are unavoidable and you will not be able to control them: a visit from a pediatrician, an obstetrician, nurses, food distribution, etc.

Ask your husband to supervise the visits of your family and friends, since you are busy with the baby, and you need to rest as much as possible. Explain to your loved ones that you need time to come to your senses and learn to communicate with your baby alone. Postpone visits until you return home.

If you do decide to receive visitors, it is better to choose daytime hours: the morning is usually taken up with medical examinations and other procedures, and by the end of the day you and the baby will be tired.

Bath or shower
Obstetricians and gynecologists are of the opinion that in the first month after childbirth it is safer for your health to perform hygienic procedures using a shower. There is no need to take risks and take a bath for fear of getting an infectious infection. Let the stitches, if any, heal properly and the wounds heal.

In a month, your body will gradually begin to return to normal, you will rest and adjust your daily routine. Then you can afford to take a bath and relax.

In the time of our mothers, everything was precisely planned. After the birth, the child was briefly shown to the mother and immediately taken to the children's department. The happy mother found herself in a postpartum ward for 6-10 people, where she spent time listening to neighbors' stories about all sorts of horrors, starting with six fingers on the hands of newborns and ending with the possible replacement of a baby. Three days passed in such a “pleasant” atmosphere, when finally the exhausted and tormented woman was brought her baby for the first feeding (before, the mother had no milk, why bring it!). However, it is difficult to imagine that the children went without food for all these three days. Screaming babies were fed formula milk from bottles, and this practice did not stop until they were discharged from the hospital. Therefore, many mothers, receiving their children for feeding, could not wake them up - they were already full. And when they woke up and demanded food, mom was not around again, and they were given a bottle. It is not surprising that after such a start, few mothers managed to maintain long-term breastfeeding.

Fortunately, these days there are a large number of maternity hospitals that treat the first days of a baby’s life more humanely. Modern obstetric centers practice the “mother + child” system, when from the very first hours after birth, the mother and her baby are together. At the same time, neither the woman nor the child experience stress when separated from each other. Mom has the opportunity to feed the baby not according to a schedule, but on demand. She establishes lactation faster, and the baby receives such valuable drops of colostrum. Already in the maternity hospital, contact is established between mother and child, which is so important for their future life. Once at home, a woman is no longer afraid to approach the child and take him in her arms. She knows how to handle a newborn, because in the maternity hospital she had the opportunity to learn this from experienced nurses, and to try changing, bathing, and simply rocking the baby herself.

It is difficult to list all the advantages of being together with your baby from the first hours of life. However, sometimes one has to hear objections. First of all, they come from those who themselves gave birth “the old fashioned way” and from workers of such maternity hospitals, but also from future mothers who are not confident in their abilities. These doubts are evident in the conference on pregnancy and childbirth on the website 7ya.ru:

...maybe (and even probably) it’s a little hard to lie with a child immediately after giving birth, especially if it didn’t go entirely well - a caesarean section, or just stitches, or something else...
(LightBug)

...many of my friends who gave birth both the first and second time say that it’s better not to take the child with you, but to rest...especially at night...with the second one it’s easier, I think - you already know what and how... and I think I’ll give the first one to the nursery on the first or second night...
(Selena)

However, among women who have tried the “mother + child” system on themselves, it is difficult to find anyone who would be dissatisfied with it.

My firstborn and I lay together immediately after giving birth. That is, they brought me from the birthplace on a gurney and left me. I can’t say that it was very easy - stitches, fatigue, all that. But these are such trifles compared to worrying about your baby - how is he doing? Isn't it wet? Isn't he crying?.. And so he is next to you, you rocked him and kissed him... They so need our warmth in the first days... I even put him to sleep with me, despite the cries of the pediatrician that I I will strangle my son in my sleep.
It won't be very comfortable, that's true. But calm down! Both for the baby and for you.
(Funtik)

It is definitely better to lie down with your child. Even if mom doesn’t feel well. Imagine: the baby was inseparable from you for 9 months, and suddenly childbirth (this is a test not only for the mother, but also for the child). And after all these misfortunes, he is taken to the nursery, where he lies in the incubator alone, his mother is not around, everything around him is unfamiliar and alien, he is given food not on demand (as it was in the stomach, when he was constantly fed), but on a schedule. Moreover, in the maternity hospital, so that children don’t scream so much, they are fed either formula or water with glucose - this is not very good for a newborn, and lactation improves better when the child eats on demand. And of course there is a psychological moment - the child feels abandoned, it’s like a betrayal on the part of the mother...
You don’t give birth every day and you need to approach this moment responsibly.
(Kitty)

For me this is a fundamental question. I chose only a maternity hospital where I could immediately lie down with my child. There is no need to worry about the fact that this is difficult - you can always ask that the baby be taken to the children's department when you want to rest, and after the next feeding you can leave him with you. In the maternity hospital where I gave birth, they swaddled the baby before each feeding, so I was spared this concern. During the day the baby was with me, and at night I gave her away - after I didn’t sleep at all the first night after giving birth (I gave birth the previous night, so it was too much).
(Echomama)

They immediately put my daughter on my stomach and put her to my chest - after an hour, though. And when I heard the doctors discussing where to take us, I myself asked to go somewhere with the child. They were surprised - they say, you can handle it (there were ruptures, oh-oh!..), but I convinced that I could handle it. And she did the right thing! Now I can’t even imagine how Liska and I wouldn’t be together... It seems to me that a lot in a relationship with a baby is laid down already in these very first days...
(Marie)

Lately I have only one requirement for the maternity hospital (if I go there) - that the child lie with the mother. After all, this is important, first of all, for the child, he should not feel abandoned, he should know that at any moment, upon request, he will be warmed, fed, caressed, and he will finally just hear the beating of his mother’s heart, to which he is so accustomed in 9 months.
I wonder if in a regular maternity hospital you demand your child, they won’t give it to you? And they will say: “It’s not allowed”? And by what right and law?
At Christmas, during our classes we watched a Norwegian film about breastfeeding, where our modern practices (they also practiced this many years ago) were shown in black and white and talked about as if they were a horror film.
(Nastic)

The most important argument in favor of staying together in the maternity hospital, of course, is feeding on demand. For a long time it was believed that a newborn should be fed strictly according to a schedule, not allowing deviations from it even for half an hour. Compliance with such a regime was costly for both parents and children. Only in recent years have pediatricians proven that feeding on demand does not disrupt digestion or negatively affect the stomach, but, on the contrary, contributes to a more harmonious development of the child, satisfying his individual nutritional needs.

Nowadays, even pediatricians from district clinics strongly recommend feeding babies outside of their schedule. And many women come to this idea on their own, obeying their own intuition.

I read in a magazine that in Africa, mothers constantly carry their babies in a bag on their chest and when they want, they then breastfeed. And because of this, they get sick less and behave much calmer. So I think that the future baby should be fed not according to a schedule, as all sorts of books advise, but when he asks.
Maybe more experienced people will tell me that this is unrealistic, but I hope.
(Natalie)

Unfortunately, I was in bed without Nastya and only when I was discharged I found out that she was fed additionally every time after feeding (without telling me about it), and sometimes, so as not to scream, even before feeding (the nanny told this in secret), and I I was surprised that she didn’t want to eat...
Therefore, it is advisable to lie with the child or pay extra to the nannies in order to prevent such disgrace.
(Irina)

The maternity hospital where I intend to give birth does not practice the “mother-child” system, and babies are brought there for feeding like everywhere else - every three hours, with a six-hour break at night. That's a total of 6 times a day. And the doctor dropped the phrase that the baby reaches for his mother’s breast up to 10-15 (!) times a day. But this is terrible! It’s not that he wants to eat 10-15 times a day, but that he only gets six...
(LightBug)

A newly born baby is not able to withstand any feeding regimen - after all, the placenta fed him continuously! He wants to eat sometimes after an hour, sometimes after 4. And this is quite normal!
I strongly recommend that everyone immediately lie in the ward with the child and not be afraid of anything.
(Echomama)

Yes, the first time after childbirth is not the easiest in the life of a young mother. And yet, staying in a maternity hospital, even related to caring for a child, is much easier than what awaits you at home, where in addition to the child you will have to deal with housekeeping, washing diapers, and many other things. But you didn’t expect an easy life when you decided to have a child! So why not use the first days to the maximum benefit for yourself and your baby?

Each institution has its own traditions and requirements regarding the appearance and behavior of both employees and visitors. This is especially true for medical institutions - clinics, hospitals, various medical centers. The maternity hospital is no exception; there is also a certain set of rules of conduct, on compliance with which the health of mothers and babies primarily depends. The medical staff of the maternity hospital are, of course, familiar with the requirements of their medical institution. But future parents sometimes do not have a very clear idea of ​​how to behave in the various departments of the maternity hospital. Therefore, at the next lesson of our “School for Future Parents” we decided to talk about rules of behavior in the maternity hospital.

Once you have decided on the choice of maternity hospital, call the admissions department or help desk to find out more. special requirements operating in this particular medical institution. The fact is that, along with the requirements common to all obstetric institutions, each maternity hospital may put forward its own rules related to the specific features of the organization of obstetric care. Let's give a few examples. Some maternity hospitals allow you to take a fitball into the maternity ward - a rubber gymnastic ball, which is very convenient to endure contractions on. Can you imagine how offensive it will be if you find out about this when you are already in the birth block?! Many maternity hospitals have abandoned the use of “official” shirts and gowns during childbirth, allowing women to take home clothes for childbirth. Requirements for the “style and texture” of maternity outfits are usually posted in the reception department. In this case, if you arrive at the birth without a clean nightgown or T-shirt, you will find yourself in a difficult situation. No, of course, in the maternity hospital there will be “official” clothes, but the mood may deteriorate.

From the moment regular contractions begin, it is not recommended to sit on a hard surface. This limitation is associated with the likelihood of increased pressure on the baby's head during dilatation of the cervix. From this moment you should not eat or drink. Firstly, the process of dilation of the cervix is ​​often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Secondly, sometimes complications arise during childbirth, for which endotracheal anesthesia is indicated. In this case, the absence of food and liquid in the stomach is extremely important; failure to comply with this restriction may be life-threatening for the expectant mother. It should be noted that a woman does not experience hunger during childbirth, and you can fight the feeling of thirst by rinsing your mouth between contractions.

Upon entering the reception hall, you need to take off your outerwear and change into replacement shoes. Then you should get documents - passport, exchange card, birth certificate, insurance policy and/or birth contract. They are necessary for registration Birth stories- a medical card that will accompany you during your stay in the maternity hospital. The documents are given to the midwife at the emergency department, and she invites the woman in labor for an examination. After completing the birth history, measuring pulse, blood pressure and body temperature, the woman is asked to go to the examination room and fully undress. The midwife gives the clothes and underwear to the mourners or places them in the dressing room. After completing the birth history, the passport and insurance policy are also returned to the mourners or placed in a safe; the exchange card and birth certificate are attached to the birth history.

After an examination on a gynecological chair and a conversation with a doctor, the expectant mother is transferred to a sanitary room. Here, women arriving for childbirth are given an enema and their perineum is shaved. To carry out these procedures, the woman in labor is asked to lie on the couch. While shaving the perineum, you should lie on your back, while giving an enema, you should lie on your side with your back to the midwife. After the enema, the woman in labor is taken to the toilet, where she should remain for at least 20-30 minutes to empty the intestines as much as possible. Then the expectant mother is asked to take a shower and get dressed (in a “local” or a shirt and robe brought with her, depending on what is customary in a given maternity hospital).

In the emergency department, a woman in labor may be asked to trim her fingernails and remove her manicure. This request is quite reasonable: the doctor determines the degree of oxygen saturation of the blood by the color of the nails. At the first signs of hypoxia (lack of oxygen in the blood), small vessels - capillaries, located including in the nail bed - suffer. In this case, the nails acquire a pale blue tint. Thus, the presence of decorative nail polish may prevent the doctor from objectively assessing the condition of the mother and fetus. It is necessary to shorten the length of the nails because immediately after birth the baby is placed on the mother’s stomach. During this “period of fusion” between mother and baby, the mother holds the baby with her hands. The skin of a newborn is very delicate - almost like the mucous membrane of an adult. Protruding nails on a mother’s hands can imperceptibly injure the baby’s skin. The resulting scratches will subsequently serve as entry points for infection.

After completing the hygiene procedures, the mother is asked to say goodbye to the escorts and go up to the maternity ward, accompanied by the midwife of the emergency department. If the expectant mother arrives for the birth accompanied by a partner (father, girlfriend, psychologist, doctor), he is taken to a special room where it is convenient to change clothes to attend the birth. In some maternity hospitals, partners are offered medical suits, in others they are allowed to take clean cotton home clothes to childbirth; this should be known in advance. In any case, the partner must have replacement shoes and clean replacement socks.

In the prenatal (or maternity ward), the woman in labor is asked to lie down on a bed for a medical examination. The doctor listens to the fetal heartbeat using a special obstetric stethoscope (wooden tube) or a cardiotocograph (CTG) - a device that allows you to record not only the work of the fetal heart, but also the contractile activity of the uterus. CTG readings are recorded within 20-40 minutes; at this time it is better to lie on your back. If necessary, the doctor conducts a repeat vaginal examination to determine the dynamics of labor. Then the woman in labor is asked to stand up and behave freely. Free or active behavior during childbirth involves walking, taking various positions that ease the sensation during contractions, massage of the sacral and iliac region, and special breathing. Active behavior during childbirth is used within the maternity ward (prenatal ward). It is worth asking the staff about the possibility of moving along the corridor of the maternity ward - this could interfere with the work of the department. In some medical institutions, maternity wards are equipped with small mini-pools, into which a woman in labor, under the supervision of staff, can plunge during labor. Other maternity wards have showers for women in labor, where expectant mothers can also endure labor with a midwife, doctor or birth partner. You should inquire about the possibility of visiting a shower from the doctor leading the birth or the midwife of the maternity ward.

Active behavior during childbirth is always encouraged if the birth proceeds physiologically, that is, without complications. However, even in physiological childbirth there are moments in which the woman in labor is asked to take a horizontal position. Such situations include

• Vaginal examination
• Recording a CTG or listening to the fetal heartbeat using a stethoscope
• Amniotomy - opening of the amniotic sac
• Spontaneous rupture of the membranes. At the moment of rupture of amniotic fluid, intra-abdominal and general blood pressure changes significantly - the woman in labor may experience dizziness. In addition, when amniotic fluid ruptures, it is necessary to make sure that the head (or buttocks - in case of breech presentation) of the baby is pressed tightly against the entrance to the pelvis and the umbilical cord loop does not fall out.
• The moment of complete opening of the cervix. The horizontal position at the end of the first stage of labor allows the baby to smoothly pass through the dilated cervix. This allows you to maximally protect the mother from cervical ruptures.
• The moment of the baby's birth and the separation of the placenta. At the end of the second stage of labor, the woman is placed on a special device for childbirth - the Rakhmanov bed. The expectant mother stays on Rakhmanov’s bed until the birth is over.
• Examination of the birth canal after childbirth. It is also performed on Rakhmanov’s bed or gynecological chair.
• Early postpartum period. If the birth took place without complications, the mother and baby spend 2 hours from the moment the birth is completed in the maternity unit under the intensive supervision of staff. In the presence of complications, the period of intensive observation is increased.

After the birth of the placenta, the mother is intravenously injected with METHYLERGOMETRINE, a drug that promotes uterine contractions. This is due to the need to prevent early postpartum hemorrhage. For the same purpose, upon completion of the birth process, an ice reservoir is placed on the mother’s stomach, which should not be removed for 2 hours after birth.

In the early postpartum period, the midwife of the maternity ward regularly (every 15-20 minutes) visits the young mother, measures pulse, blood pressure, body temperature and determines the amount, color and nature of discharge from the genital tract. The postpartum woman is asked not to sleep for an objective assessment of her condition.

If the early postpartum period is successful (2 hours from the moment of birth), mother and baby are transferred to the postpartum department.

The rules of behavior in the postpartum ward vary significantly depending on what mode of stay is practiced in a given maternity hospital. If we are talking about a separate stay, the postpartum mother has contact with the baby at a strictly defined time - feeding hours. This usually happens every 3 hours for 30 minutes during the day (first feeding at 6-00, last 0-00) with a night break of 6 hours. When staying together, the baby is always with the mother; Feeding in this case is carried out on demand, that is, not tied to a specific time. Before each feeding of the baby, you should thoroughly wash your hands and chest. Your nursing bra needs to be changed every day. If milk or colostrum leaks between feedings, it is convenient to use special bra pads. For all questions related to breastfeeding, you should contact the midwife on duty and the attending physician of the postpartum department. Questions about the baby’s health are asked to a neonatologist (children’s doctor), who visits the young mother daily. Problems with caring for the baby can be resolved by the nurse, who also visits the mother in labor every day.

If the birth was accompanied by ruptures or a surgical incision of the perineum (episiotomy) followed by suturing, in the postpartum period the young mother should adhere to certain rules of behavior that promote the speedy and safe healing of perineal injuries. Immediately after separation of the placenta, the postpartum woman experiences significant bloody discharge from the genital tract - lochia. Lochia is an ideal breeding ground for the proliferation of various pathogenic bacteria, so the accumulation of such secretions in the suture area is extremely undesirable. As part of postpartum hygiene of the genital tract, a woman is recommended to regularly (at least 6 times a day) wash herself with warm water with the addition of potassium permanganate (a weak pale pink solution is used - 2-3 grains per 2 liters of water) or antibacterial soap such as SAFEGARD (you can also use regular laundry soap). Every day, a young mother is invited to the treatment room for medicinal treatment of sutures. In addition, it is recommended to change sterile diapers or postpartum sanitary pads as often as possible. Instead of regular underwear, it is convenient to use special disposable panties made of non-woven material during your stay in the postpartum ward. If there are stitches on the perineum, the first three days after childbirth, the woman will be advised to follow a special diet that excludes coarse fiber - vegetables, fruits, baked goods. This “diet adjustment” will reduce intestinal motility and delay bowel movements; such measures are necessary for the healing of sutures. During this period, the young mother can eat lean boiled meat, fish, poultry and broths, as well as consume sour-milk products. If healing is successful, the sutures are removed on the 5th day after birth. For 3 weeks after birth, the postpartum woman is not recommended to sit (as part of the prevention of suture dehiscence in the perineum).

In postpartum departments that allow relatives of mother and baby to visit or live together, certain rules of behavior should also be observed. Visitors must remove street clothes and change shoes before entering the department, and change into clean home clothes or a medical gown while in the ward. Before approaching the baby, dad and other visitors, you must wash your hands. It must be said that the first days after childbirth, mother and baby most of all need rest, so, if possible, try to limit the number of visitors - save your strength and health!

If the mother and baby feel well, 3-5 days after physiological birth the question arises of discharging the young family home. Before discharge, the mother undergoes an ultrasound of the pelvic organs; if there are removable sutures, an examination is performed and the suture material is removed. Before discharge, the obstetrician-gynecologist explains to the young mother the features of postpartum hygiene of the genitals and mammary glands, and the neonatologist gives recommendations for caring for the baby.

Upon discharge, the woman is given two completed parts of the exchange card. The first part contains information about the woman in labor and the peculiarities of the course of labor; it should be referred to the attending physician at the antenatal clinic. The second part contains information about the newborn; she is sent to a children's clinic. The day before discharge, the neonatologist at the maternity hospital telephones the children's medical institution where the parents plan to observe the baby.

From the maternity hospital, the young family takes the baby's first document - a birth certificate, which indicates the day, month, year, time of day, medical institution, city, country, gender and parameters with which the baby was born. The last name, first name, patronymic and year of birth of the mother, the birth history number and the last name of the doctor who helped the baby be born are also indicated here. Based on this certificate, the registry office employees issue the parents a Birth Certificate for the baby.