Postpartum Care

Postpartum/baby warning signs to report

Call your doctor/midwife if you or your baby have any of the following:

Mother

• Temperature over 100.4 F/37.8 C, with or without chills
• Red/hot/tender breasts
• Foul smelling vaginal bleeding or discharge, or itchiness
• Caesarean incision that is red, draining, swollen or painful
• Burning sensation during urination or an inability to urinate
• Crying and periods of sadness beyond the two weeks
• Your leg(s) are tender and/or red, painful or hot to the touch

Call 911 or go to the nearest Emergency Department immediately if you:

• Are soaking a pad with bright red blood in less than 1 hour, and/or passing large clots (size of a plum or larger)
• Have trouble breathing or chest pain, unusual/new headache or vision changes

Baby

• Temperature over 99.8 F/37.6 C (oral) or under 97.0 F/36.2 C (under the arm temperature)
• Abnormal skin colour (pale, bluish or gray)
• Colour of eyes and/or skin yellow
• Unusually fussy, irritable or sleepy
• Cries all the time and can’t be comforted
• Not interested in feeding or is lethargic to feed eight or more times a day
• Has not passed urine or stool in 24 hours in the first week
• Firm, hard stools
• Frequent choking/gagging or coughing persistently
• Frequent or forceful spitting up after feedings
• Green, brown or fresh red blood in the spit up
• Green, foul smelling discharge around cord

For non-urgent questions or concerns, please call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000.