Follow-up Care

Today, most women who deliver in the hospital will stay 24-48 hours after the birth. After discharge, they typically do not see their practitioner again for six weeks.

As a midwife, I have a different approach to your postpartum care. Though my assistant and I will leave your home within three hours after the birth, we will call you to check up on you the day after you deliver. Two days after the birth, I visit your home to fully examine you and your baby. At two weeks postpartum, you and your baby get thorough examinations at my office. I will call you again four weeks after the birth to see how you are adjusting to life with your newborn. We will arrange additional visits in your home or my office as needed.

I will see you and your baby in my office for your final postpartum visit six to eight weeks after the birth. This exam includes birth control counseling and a pap smear, if needed. I will provide you with the birth control method of your choice: the pill, diaphragm, Depo-Provera injections, IUD or information on natural family planning. At your request, I can also make referrals for a vasectomy, tubal ligation or cervical cap.