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When to get help quickly

Deliberately short, so it is the page you remember at two in the morning.

Lesson 5 of 5

8 min Text

What this lesson says

  • Heavy bleeding, large clots or foul-smelling discharge need assessment now
  • Fever, or feeling suddenly very unwell, needs assessment now
  • A severe headache, visual changes or sudden swelling can occur after birth as well as before
  • Chest pain, breathlessness, or pain and swelling in one calf need urgent assessment
  • Thoughts of harming yourself or the baby need help today

This is general education. It is not advice about your own situation, and it does not replace seeing a clinician.

Written lesson.
  1. 1. Serious problems after a birth are uncommon and they are not rare enough to leave off a page like this. The list below is short so that it is remembered.
  2. 2. Get help the same day for bleeding that suddenly becomes heavy again, for large clots, or for vaginal discharge that smells offensive — with or without fever.
  3. 3. Get help the same day for a fever, for shivering, or for simply feeling suddenly and unmistakably unwell. Infection after a birth can move quickly and is treated urgently.
  4. 4. Get help the same day for a severe headache that will not settle, for changes in vision, or for sudden swelling of the face and hands. Blood pressure conditions can begin or continue after the birth, which surprises people, and they are treated the same way: early.
  5. 5. Get urgent help for chest pain, for breathlessness that is new, or for pain, swelling, warmth or redness in one calf. Those are assessed for a clot, which is uncommon and time-critical.
  6. 6. Get help today for thoughts of harming yourself or the baby, for feeling unable to keep either of you safe, or for confused thinking, or seeing or hearing things others do not.
  7. 7. And the clause that matters as much as the list: if you feel that something is seriously wrong and it is not on this page, get seen anyway. A page cannot examine you, and nobody working in maternity care thinks a woman who came in and was fine has wasted their time.

All lessons in this course

  1. 1 The first six weeks: what your body is doing 11 min
  2. 2 Feeding: what help exists, and what nobody tells you 11 min
  3. 3 Your mind after birth, and telling low days from something more 11 min
  4. 4 The postnatal check, and using it for yourself 9 min
  5. 5 When to get help quickly 8 min Reading now

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