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 give you emergency numbers to call 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.